Abstract
Introduction:
A key step in improving the patient self management of asthma is first to understand what patients consider important.
Aims and objectives:
To quantify the importance of features of the long-term management of asthma from the patient's perspective and thus to inform the development of personalised management strategies that patients find acceptable.
Subjects and methods:
Patients over 18 years of age with asthma, prescribed medication > step 3 of the British Asthma Guidelines, from 15 general practices in the UK were recruited. The participants took part in a discrete choice experiment in which respondents were asked to choose their preferred option in scenarios designed to reveal their preferences for features identified in previous research as being important to patients in their asthma management.
Results:
147 evaluable questionnaires were returned. A change in the number of inhalers and differences in inhaled steroid dose had the most impactonpatients’ views oftheir asthma management. In particular, the highest relative negative impacts resulted from shifts from ‘no more than 2’ to ‘3’ inhalers and from a change in steroid dose from ‘low but high when needed’ to ‘always high’. The negative impact of each of these shifts were greater than, for example, the positive impact of improvements in relief of symptoms.
Conclusions:
Adults with moderate to severe asthma are concerned about the number of inhalers and the steroid dose used to the extent that they would give up some improvements in symptom relief to avoid what are perceived as negative shifts in these two features of their asthma management. These preferences should be incorporated when agreeing and instigating long-term asthma management plans.
Conflict of interest and funding
This study was funded by an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca UK.
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Haughney, J., Fletcher, M., Wolfe, S. et al. ABS36: Features of asthma management: Quantifying the patient's perspective using discrete choice modelling. Prim Care Respir J 15, 195 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcrj.2006.04.135
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcrj.2006.04.135