Assessment of asthma control: The SERENA study

Summary Background several studies suggest that many asthmatic subjects have uncontrolled asthma. The control of asthma is now considered the major goal of therapy. Objectives to ascertain the level of asthma control, by Asthma Control Test (ACT), in "real-life" clinical practice and the potential risk factors for uncontrolled disease in patients treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting beta-adrenergic agonists (LABA). Methods SERENA is a multi-centre, cross-sectional, 6-month observational, non-interventional study carried out in 16 Pulmonary Units in Italy. Asthmatic outpatients aged over 18, undergoing treatment with ICS at medium–high daily doses associated with LABA, were enrolled. The patients were divided in 3 subgroups according to the level of asthma control by ACT score (25:controlled; 20–24:partly controlled; Results Out of a total of 548 patients, 396 met the inclusion criteria. Only 9.1% of patients had asthma controlled, while partly controlled and uncontrolled asthma accounted for 39.6% and 51.3% respectively. The mean age was 54.5 ± 15.8 and the mean duration of asthma was 16.1 ± 14.1 years. There were more females than males (63% vs 37%) and females had highest prevalence of uncontrolled asthma (63.1%). The mean values of FEV 1 % predicted were lower in the uncontrolled group ( p p 1 and exacerbations as the strongest independent factors associated with the uncontrolled disease. Conclusion This study highlights the importance in clinical practice of a periodic assessment by a validated asthma control instrument and exacerbations/health care contacts during previous year. Clinicians should be aware that a significant proportion of patients can have uncontrolled asthma, despite regular pharmacological treatment.