Comparative features of Asthma with frequent or infrequent exacerbations: A longitudinal study of retrospective and prospective events

ABSTRACTBackground: A “frequent exacerbator phenotype” has been described, mostly in the population of patients with severe asthma. Further data are needed on such exacerbation-prone patients in milder asthma. Aim: To compare the characteristics of frequent and nonfrequent exacerbators in asthma of different severities and to assess the stability of the exacerbator status. Methods: This was an observational study comparing baseline data from frequent (≥2 exacerbations in the past year) and nonfrequent (<2 exacerbations in the past year) exacerbators. Patients were also followed up for one year. Information regarding clinical, physiologic, and inflammatory characteristics was collected at baseline and one-year follow-up. Results: Forty-seven frequent and 53 nonfrequent exacerbators were recruited. No specific clinical, physiologic, or inflammatory characteristic was observed in the frequent as compared to the nonfrequent exacerbators at baseline. Fifty-eight percent of patients reporting frequent exacerbat...