Abstract
Asthma control is suboptimal for many sufferers despite the existence of effective treatments. Patients' self-management is influenced by their perceptions of asthma and its treatment. This study explored sufferers' perceptions of asthma control and their influence on self-management behaviours.
Participants (n=42) recruited from primary and secondary care asthma clinics in London each underwent a qualitative interview exploring perceptions and experiences of asthma control. Purposive sampling ensured variation in disease severity, degree of asthma control, age and socioeconomic status. Grounded theory was employed in thematic analysis of transcribed interviews.
Five themes relating to perceptions of asthma control and self-management were identified: personal meaning of control, intermittent prevention, compromising control to avoid medication, pharmacological agents overemphasized in control and the role of asthma review in control. Within the first theme, some participants had an internal barometer of the level of symptoms that indicated their asthma was getting ‘out of control’ that was set much higher than Asthma Control Test criteria.
The findings provide new insights into patient perceptions of asthma control. Symptoms indicative of poor control were often tolerated as part of living with asthma. Identification of barriers and drivers to self-management highlight potential targets for strategies aimed at optimising asthma management.
Abstract
For many asthma sufferers “control” means avoidance of deterioration which results in ineffective self-management
Footnotes
This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Bidad has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Prof. Barnes is employed by and holds shares in GSK
Conflict of interest: Dr. Griffiths has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Professor Horne reports personal fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Idec, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, personal fees from Janssen, Pfizer, Roche, Shire Pharmaceuticals, MSD, Astellas, Astrazeneca, DRSU, Novartis, Universitatsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, other from Spoonful of Sugar Ltd, during the conduct of the study. Professor Horne was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) North Thames at Bart's Health NHS Trust. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.
This is a PDF-only article. Please click on the PDF link above to read it.
- Copyright ©ERS 2018