Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM): A. Survey of Asthma Patients in 5 Latin American Locales. Sandra González-DÃaz, MD, PhD,1 Jorge ...
WAO Journal February 2012
among allergy diseases because of the presence of crises that increases the cost of medical attention. It is very important therefore to make a good diagnosis of asthma early on in order to bring adequate treatment, including immunotherapy. Education to these patients is also an important task, mainly in children.
329 Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM): A Survey of Asthma Patients in 5 Latin American Locales Sandra González-Díaz, MD, PhD,1 Jorge Maspero, MD,2 Jose Jardim, MD,3 Alvaro Aranda, MD,4 and Paolo Tassinari, MD5. 1Hospital Universitario, Medical School, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico; 2 Allergy and Respiratory Research Unit, Fundacion CIDEA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 3Pulmonary Department, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil; 4Hospital Auxilio Mutuo, San Juan, PR; 5 Hospital de Clínicas Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela. Background: In 2011, we conducted a comprehensive asthma survey in Latin America with a 3-fold purpose: to explore the realities of living with asthma, to identify the disconnect between expectations in asthma management and the patient experience, and to identify unmet needs in asthma management. The Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM) survey was modeled on similar programs in the US, Europe and Canada, and the Asia-Pacific region. Methods: Face-to-face interviews of approximately 35 minutes’ duration were conducted with respondents drawn from a national probability sample. The survey was designed to include 2000 patients (400 patients/location) across countries in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela) and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Survey questions were organized under the topics of asthma burden; impact of asthma on patients’ activities, lifestyles, and work productivity; emotional burden; defining and characterizing symptoms; seasonal influences on symptoms; triggers; most bothersome symptoms; and patient perceptions about current levels of control. Results: The results from the LA AIM survey will become available in November 2011. In the 2009 US AIM survey,1 2500 asthma patients aged $12 years (adults, n ¼ 2186, and parents of adolescent respondents) were interviewed by phone. Participants had a diagnosis of asthma, had taken asthma medication, or experienced an asthma attack within 12 months of the survey. Respondents in the patient sample were predominantly female (69%, n ¼ 1732), aged $35 years (73%, n ¼ 1819), and had “not wellcontrolled” or “very poorly controlled” asthma (71%), using National Asthma Education Prevention Program guideline criteria. One in 4 respondents experienced symptom worsening at least weekly over the past 12 months: 11% reported asthma exacerbations most days; another 14% reported them at least twice weekly. Conclusions: The US AIM survey provides a comprehensive depiction of the current state of asthma burden and patient perceptions in the United States. The LA AIM survey provides a view of the state of asthma across 5 distinct Latin American cultures.
REFERENCE 1. Asthma Insight and Management Executive Summary. http://www. takingaimatasthma.com/pdf/executive-summary.pdf. Accessed June 23, 2011.
330 Understanding of Asthma Terminology by Patients Interviewed in the Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM) Survey Jose Jardim, MD,1 Sandra González-Díaz, MD, PhD,2 Jorge Maspero, MD,3 Paolo Tassinari, MD,4 and Alvaro Aranda, MD5. 1Pulmonary Department, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil;
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Hospital Universitario, Medical School, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico; 3Allergy and Respiratory Research Unit, Fundacion CIDEA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 4Hospital de Clínicas Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela; 5Hospital Auxilio Mutuo, San Juan, PR. Background: Patients often do not clearly understand the terminology regularly used by their physicians to describe asthma symptoms and their worsening, such as “attacks,” “exacerbations,” and “flare-ups”, among others. The Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM) survey, a large and comprehensive asthma survey being conducted in 2011, explores differences across regions in the understanding of terminology to describe asthma symptoms, asthma deteriorations, and other asthma-related concepts. Methods: Adult participants aged $18 years with asthma responded to survey questions during 35-minute face-to-face interviews. The survey was conducted in 4 Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela) and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. A sample size of 2000 patients (400 patients/location) was determined to provide an accurate national representation of the opinions and views of asthma patients. The survey question on asthma terminology was designed to reveal respondents’ familiarity with and understanding of asthma terms, such as “exacerbation,” “flareup,” and “attack.” Results: Results from the LA AIM survey will become available in November 2011. In the US AIM survey,1 conducted via telephone with 2500 respondents (adults, n ¼ 2186, and parents of adolescent respondents), only 24% of asthma patients participating in the US survey were familiar with the term “asthma exacerbation.” In contrast, most asthma patients (97%) were familiar with the term “asthma attack,” and 71% of them recognized the term “asthma flare-up.” Perceptions of the meaning of “asthma flare-up” were less varied across groups. Conclusions: Distinctions exist in patients’ understanding of asthma flare-ups and asthma attacks; however, asthma exacerbations, the phrase used most regularly by physicians, may not be well enough understood by asthma patients for effective communication with them. The LA AIM survey was designed to determine whether physicians and patients currently communicate in a mutually understood terminology.
REFERENCE 1. Asthma Insight and Management Executive Summary. http://www. takingaimatasthma.com/pdf/executive-summary.pdf. Accessed June 23, 2011.
331 Asthma Management in Latin America: Learnings from the Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM) Survey of Patients Jorge Maspero, MD,1 Jose Jardim, MD,2 Sandra González-Díaz, MD, PhD,3 Alvaro Aranda, MD,4 and Paolo Tassinari, MD5. 1Allergy and Respiratory Research Unit, Fundacion CIDEA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2Pulmonary Department, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil; 3Hospital Universitario, Medical School, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico; 4Hospital Auxilio Mutuo, San Juan, PR; 5Hospital de Clínicas Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela. Background: In 2003, the Asthma Insights and Reality in Latin America (AIRLA) survey assessed, in part, perception, knowledge, and attitudes related to asthma.1 In 2011 the Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM) survey was designed to ascertain the realities of living with asthma, disconnect between expectations in asthma management and patient experience, and unmet needs. Using results from our survey, we investigated the advances made in asthma care and the challenges that remain for Latin American patients with asthma. Methods: Asthma patients aged $18 years from 4 Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela) and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico responded to survey questions during 35-minute face-to-face interviews.
2012 World Allergy Organization
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