Abstract
The increased use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) caused a great reduction in the morbimortality rates in the last years. And probably, have changed the actual patients profile requiring hospitalization. We hypothesized an increase in the migrant population and psychiatric disorders rate in the current hospitalized asthma patients. Objectives:To determine the demographic, comorbidity and asthma characteristics of the hospitalized patients suffered asthma exacerbation (AE) in the 2000 decade. Methods:Retrospective cross-sectional study which included 609 hospitalized patients with AE in a Spanish tertiary hospital during 2,000-09. Demographic and clinical data were taken of the medical records of 198 (33%) spanish randomized patients and all migrants. Results:59 (29%) patients of the sample had a psychiatric illness and 33 (13%) were migrants from low-income countries. A significant (p <0.05) increase in the proportion of asthmatic migrants across the decade course was observed. Compared to native patients group, migrant asthmatic group was significantly younger(37.3[11.4]vs59.1[19.6]years,p<0.001); a lower proportion of patients used ICS prior to AE (6[18%]vs140[68%],p=0.01); suffered a lower proportion of psychiatric illness(4[12%]vs55[27%],p=0.01); and had a lower comorbidity (Charlson adjusted score:1.4[1.2]vs3.3[2.2],p<0.001).Conclusions:An increasing proportion of migrants with AE require admission to hospital. They have a clinical profile different from the traditional. Specific strategies should be designed to manage this population and particularly addressed to promote their ICS use.
- © 2013 ERS