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JACI Highlights - April 2009Women have more frequent asthma attacks and symptoms compared to men: Results from the National Asthma SurveyJames Temprano, MD, MHA and David M. Mannino, MD New insight into asthma control is that the short- and long-term measures of control differ significantly between the sexes, and that women get the short end of the stick in both instances. This study, published in the April 2009 issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, demonstrates significant differences between men and women in terms of asthma control, with female subjects having worse short-term control--measured as frequency of recent asthma attacks, uncontrolled daytime and nighttime symptoms in the prior 30 days, and albuterol use for an asthma attack. Women were more likely than men to have used a rescue inhaler for an asthma attack in the prior 3 months. All long-term measures of asthma control looked at in this study (asthma attacks in the past year, frequency of urgent care visits for asthma, work days lost due to asthma and asthma hospitalizations) revealed poorer control in women than men. Other studies corroborate the finding of higher urgent-care visits and hospitalizations in female asthma subjects, and have also shown higher rates of routine asthma care in female asthmatic subjects but worse asthma control. One possible explanation for the differences demonstrated between the sexes for the long-term measure is that women might seek care more readily than men because of a greater knowledge or perception of asthma control. Women may also experience greater disability from their asthma because of a greater frequency of asthma attacks or a greater severity of asthma. Higher rates of routine asthma care in women with worsened asthma control could also reflect a better awareness of worsening lung function or a greater comprehension of well-controlled versus poorly controlled asthma among women. Although this study and others support differences in asthma control between the sexes, it is possible that asthmatic female subjects report more problems and use more healthcare services than male subjects with similar levels of illness. Additional studies need to be done to determine if the differences are due to health reporting or pathophysiological differences in asthma between the genders. |
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