Description of clinical symptoms according to the degree of decompensation
| Well-controlled asthma |
| Absence of cough or wheezing |
| Exercise can be performed easily |
| An extra dose of medication with rescue effect is rarely needed |
| Mild–Moderate decompensation |
| Need to increase inhaled β2-agonists (>4–5 doses per week), or |
| Asthma-related nocturnalawakenings, or |
| Suffering from respiratory tract infection and there is an increase in the need for inhaled β2-agonists (rescue), or |
| Reduced exercise capacity |
| Severe decompensation |
| Very little improvement with conventional inhaler (rescue medication), or |
| Dyspnoea increases despite therapeutic increase |
| Very severe decompensation |
| Sudden asthma attack, or |
| No response to medication with rescue effect, or |
| Dyspnoea associated with minimal effort (speech), or |
| Worsening of symptoms despite treatment indicated in the red zone, or |
| Fainting, fear with feeling of imminent death |