Elsevier, Respiratory Medicine, 8(108), p. 1091-1099
DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2014.05.016
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Background: The exponential increase of individuals aged >64 yrs is expected to impact the burden of asthma. We aimed to explore the level of asthma control in elderly subjects, and factors influencing it. Methods: A multicenter observational study was performed on consecutive patients >64 years old with a documented physician-diagnosis of asthma. Sixteen Italian centers were involved in this 6-month project. Findings: A total of 350 patients were enrolled in the study. More than one-third of elderly asthmatic patients, despite receiving GINA step 3-4 antiasthmatic therapy, had an Asthma Control Test score ≤ 19, with a quarter experiencing at least one severe asthma exacerbation in the previous year. Twenty-nine percent of patients (n Z 101) were classified as having Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS) due to the presence of chronic bronchitis and/or CO lung diffusion impairment. This subgroup of patients had lower mean Asthma Control Test scores and more exacerbations compared to the asthmatic patients (18 ± 4 compared to 20 ± 4, p