Prevalence and characterization of severe asthma in Hungary.

BACKGROUND

Severe asthma (SA) database was established in Hungary to estimate the prevalence of SA and to define and analyze clinical phenotypes of the patients.

METHODS

SA questionnaires were sent out to 143 public pulmonary dispensaries specialized for diagnosing and caring pulmonary patients. Data of 520 SA patients were evaluated.

RESULTS

The prevalence of SA within the asthmatic population in Hungary was 0.89%. The mean age of patients were 56.4 ± 13.4 years, SA were more frequent in females (64%), the prevalence of allergy was 56.6%, 72.1% of patients had persistent airflow limitation (FEV1 < 80%), 37.9% severe airway obstruction (FEV1 ≤ 60%), 33.6% required systemic corticosteroid maintenance therapy, 21.5% had salicylate intolerance and 43.2% rhinosinusitis. A Bayesian dependency network was calculated which revealed several interdependencies between the characteristics. E.g. there was a strong association between salicylate intolerance and rhinosinusitis, more patients received regular systemic corticosteroid treatment who had salicylate intolerance and the proportion of salicylate intolerance was significantly higher in females.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of SA was determined in Hungary which was lower than in other studies. Using a Bayesian-based network analysis several interdependencies were revealed between patient characteristics.