M Schatz

..To validate a risk stratification scheme using computerized pharmacy data to predict emergency hospital utilization for persistent asthma...

..The Asthma Impact Survey (AIS-6) is a new six question asthma outcome tool for which information on validity has not been published...

..Asthma control has been hypothesized to be inversely related to asthma severity, directly related to effective management, and also related to other definable factors, but empiric data to support this construct are few...

..Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is a marker of airway inflammation. Its role in assessing asthma burden in clinical practice needs more study...

..Inherent asthma severity is difficult to assess clinically. The purpose of this study was to develop an Asthma Intensity Manifestations Score (AIMS) as a surrogate for asthma severity...

..Prior studies suggest that allergist care improves asthma outcomes, but many of these studies have methodological shortcomings...

..To evaluate the relationship of potential asthma quality-of-care markers to subsequent emergency hospital care...

..Current asthma management guidelines recommend aggressive asthma treatment for women who are pregnant...

..To provide additional validity data for the Asthma Control TestTM (ACT) using a different criterion measure, setting, and population...

..If the patient is very poorly controlled, consider stepping up two steps, a course of oral corticosteroids, or both. It is hoped that the updated NAEPP guidelines will lead to improved quality of life for patients with asthma...

..To identify an optimal cut-point score on the Mini-Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (mini-AQLQ) to predict subsequent asthma exacerbations, and to determine the additional risk conferred by a prior history of acute episodes...

..Validated psychometric tools measuring quality of life, asthma control, and asthma severity have been developed, but their relationships with each other and with other important patient-centered outcomes have not been rigorously assessed...

..It is important for the allergist-immunologist to be an active participant in the evolving paradigm of pay for performance, advocating for the best interests of patients and providers alike...

..The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that maternal asthma symptoms and pulmonary function are related to adverse perinatal outcomes...

..The ratio of controller medication to total asthma medications has been related to asthma utilization outcomes, but its relationship to patient-centered outcomes has not been explored...

..The Asthma Control Test (ACT) has been validated in a paper and pencil version but has not been validated for use by telephone...

..These data suggest that the limited intervention in our setting improved outcomes but that regular care manager follow-up thereafter did not add significantly to this intervention...

..Asthma control has been defined clinically by using validated tools, but an asthma control scale using administrative data has not been reported...

..The development of the Asthma Control Test (ACT), a short, simple, patient-based tool for identifying patients with poorly controlled asthma, was recently described in patients under the routine care of an asthma specialist...

..0001), COPD (p < 0.0001), absence of regular specialist care (p = 0.006), higher BMI (p = 0.01), gastroesophageal reflux (p = 0.02), not being Caucasian (p = 0.04), and low income (p = 0.04)...

..To distinguish between differences in prevalence, asthma severity, and treatment to explain sex-related differences in hospitalized asthma patients...

..Risk stratification is used to identify patients with asthma at increased risk of experiencing morbidity and resource utilization. Validated psychometric tools are infrequently studied sources of data for this purpose...

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..The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of the interval between routine physician visits to asthma outcomes in patients with moderate persistent asthma...

..The Asthma Impact Survey (AIS-6) is a brief disease-specific quality-of-life instrument with limited published validation data...

..To use a computerized administrative database to develop and validate a clinical prediction rule for the occurrence of asthma hospitalizations...

..Age-related sex differences in asthma hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits have been reported, but relationships of these differences to disease prevalence and outpatient management have not been defined...

..We compared three validated questionnaires reflecting asthma impairment in their ability to predict future exacerbations...

..To describe the relationships between persistent asthma defined by administrative versus survey data and their stability over time...

..To define and validate a practical risk stratification scheme based on administrative data for use in identifying patients at high, medium, and low risk of requiring emergency hospital care for asthma...

..Guidelines for the management of asthma exacerbations are also presented...

..Hence, infants of asthmatic mothers whose asthma has been actively managed during pregnancy have developmental outcomes at 15 months of age that are similar to those of control infants...

..To compare the relationship of surrogate markers of asthma control to subsequent asthma exacerbations...

..To summarize studies of pay-for-performance programmes designed to address clinical quality of care markers in ambulatory settings at the level of the physician group or individual physician...

..These data suggest that asthma is not inherently more severe in boys with asthma compared to girls, and that the increased rate of hospitalizations in boys under age 13 is due to differences in prevalence, not severity...

..To determine whether asthma-specific quality of life during pregnancy is related to asthma exacerbations and to perinatal outcomes...

..Maternal asthma has been reported to increase the risk of preeclampsia, preterm deliveries, and lower-birth-weight infants, but the mechanisms of this effect are not defined...

..The Asthma Control Test (ACT) has been well validated, but a minimally important difference (MID) has not been established...

..Rhinitis is a common health condition, but the extent of the burden in managed care organizations (MCOs) has not been well described...

..It is hoped that outreach to patients and providers based on these indicators will improve asthma outcomes in patients cared for in individual practices, as well as in large health plans...

..Optimal medical practice medico-legal considerations demand that the patient's informed consent be obtained for that recommended gestational management programme...

..To investigate differences in demographics, physician specialty, and medication use between patients who achieve high versus low ratios of controller to total asthma medications...

..Asthma is a chronic disorder that affects about 8% of pregnant women and may complicate pregnancy. Adequate asthma therapy in pregnancy is crucial but challenging because of safety concerns for the fetus...

..This paper presents the results from the USA...

..This articles describes recently published consensus recommendations regarding the pharmacological management of asthma during pregnancy...

..Managing asthma during pregnancy is unique because the effects of both the illness and the treatment on the developing fetus and the patient must be considered...

..CONCLUSION: The National Asthma Education Program Working Group on Asthma and Pregnancy classification of asthma severity, adapted to include medication use, predicts subsequent asthma morbidity during pregnancy...

..This review summarizes the recent studies addressing the effects of asthma or asthma medications on perinatal outcomes, including the 2004 Asthma and Pregnancy Working Group of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program...

..CONCLUSION: Allergy care reduces emergency hospital use for asthma by increasing use of ICs but probably also has an independent effect...

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..To determine whether montelukast is as effective as fluticasone in controlling mild persistent asthma as determined by rescue-free days...

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..Medical costs and health care utilization associated with asthma and the variation by treatment are poorly understood...

..To determine whether step-up care recommended by national asthma guidelines improves asthma control in a large managed care organization...

..Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease. It is commonly diagnosed and treated on the basis of clinical impression, although national guidelines recommend documenting reversible airflow obstruction...

..To describe the variability of the asthma phenotype in patients with mild persistent asthma enrolled in the Mild Asthma Montelukast versus Inhaled Corticosteroid (MIAMI) study...

..57-0.64); and lowest with the environment domain (r = 0.38-0.43). Asthma control tools reflect the symptoms and activity themes of asthma quality of life well, but reflect the environmental domain less well...

..Outcome data are needed to base recommendations for controller asthma medication use in school-aged children...

..This article presents practical strategies for the management of asthma in our pregnant patients...

..It is hoped that the updated guidelines, which address the safety of contemporary asthma medications during pregnancy, will be a helpful resource in the treatment of our pregnant asthmatic patients...

..Methodological and practical considerations related to safety of asthma medications in pregnancy and management of gestational asthma are discussed...

..The association of obesity with asthma outcomes is not well understood...

..Allergic rhinitis is common, but a validated tool for comprehensive assessment of disease control is not available...

..CONCLUSIONS: The relationship of gestational asthma course to rhinitis symptoms may have clinical and mechanistic significance. Further studies will be necessary to test this hypothesis...

..Thus, pregnancy-appropriate regimens should ideally be discussed with all women of childbearing age as part of the informed therapeutic decision-making process...

..77. CONCLUSION: Results reinforce the usefulness of a brief, easy to administer, patient-based index of asthma control...

..However, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness comparisons of available inhaled corticosteroids in real-life clinical settings are lacking...

..To evaluate whether maternal obesity is associated with pulmonary and nonpulmonary pregnancy complications in asthmatic women...

..This study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate to oral theophylline for the prevention of asthma exacerbation(s) requiring medical intervention...

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..Asthma is a significant public health problem that results in 1.8 million annual emergency department (ED) visits. Many ED visits may be prevented with specialized asthma care...

..The purpose of this document is to review the best available evidence about the management of asthma during pregnancy...

..84; 95% CI: 1.05; 3.21) independent of maternal age, BMI, ethnicity, smoking, and socioeconomic status. The current study suggests that pregnant asthmatic women carrying a girl might be more susceptible to asthma exacerbations...

..Thus, we assessed the effects of multiple short courses of oral corticosteroids and long-term inhaled corticosteroids on bone mineral accretion over a period of years...

..Concerns regarding potential harmful effect of medications on fetuses often result in inadequate treatment of asthma in pregnancy, whereas risks posed by poorly controlled maternal asthma are often underestimated...

..The primary hypothesis was that moderate or severe asthmatics would have an increased incidence of delivery at <32 weeks of gestation compared with nonasthmatic controls...