Evaluation of asthma control from China national asthma control surveys

Objective: To evaluate the overall asthma control level in urban China and provide evidence for the prevention and management of asthma. Methods: A multi-center, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey was carried out in 30 provinces of China (except for Tibet). Results: 3,875 asthmatic outpatients were recruited. Asthma control was assessed according to GINA 2015. The prevalence of asthma control in urban area of China was 28.5%. Among 10 cities, which also took part in the asthma control survey in 2008, the level of asthma control improved from 28.7% in 2008 to 39.2% in 2016. The rate of hospitalization due to asthma exacerbation was 26.4%, while it was 22.3% for emergency visit. The proportion for being absent of work was 18.4% in adult patients and 63.6% student patients had been absent of school because of asthma attack in the past year. Conclusion: Although the level of asthma control in China is still far from ideal at present, asthma control has been improved in some cities. Not well controlled asthma resulted in the increase of hospitalization, emergency room visit and absence of work or school.