Asthma control in the Portuguese National Asthma Survey.

Abstract Introduction We aimed (1) to measure asthma control using a structure-questionnaire and patient self-perception of asthma-control in the Portuguese National Asthma Survey (INAsma) and (2) to study the relationship between asthma control and asthma-related quality of life. Methods We analyze data of asthma patients from a cross-sectional, nationwide telephone interview study – INAsma. Controlled asthma was defined as CARAT global score >24 or CARAT lower airways score ≥16. Mini-AQLQ was used to measure quality of life. Results Two hundred and seven (56.9% [95%CI: 51.8–62.0]) of the 364 patients had controlled asthma. Most patients with non-controlled asthma (88%) perceived their disease as controlled. Patients with controlled asthma presented higher mini-AQLQ scores (median, P25–P75; 6.6, 6.0–6.9) than those with non-controlled asthma (4.9, 3.7–5.7) ( p r  = 0.706; p Conclusion More than half of the Portuguese patients presented controlled asthma and showed significantly better asthma-related quality of life. Almost 9 out of 10 patients with non-controlled disease have poor perception of their asthma control, which may hinder them from seeking better asthma control.