Asia Pac Allergy.  2019 Jul;9(3):e24. 10.5415/apallergy.2019.9.e24.

A survey of management practices in coexistent allergic rhinitis and asthma (Asia-pacific Survey of Physicians on Asthma and allergic Rhinitis): results from Thailand

• Bunupuradah T
• Siriaksorn S
• Hinds D
• Shantakumar S
• Mulgirigama A
• Aggarwal B

• KMID: 2454158
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5415/apallergy.2019.9.e24

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Underdiagnosis and undertreatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) in patients with asthma can worsen treatment outcomes. There is limited evidence of clinical practices for management of coexistent AR-asthma in Thailand.
METHODS
A multicountry, cross-sectional study (Asia-pacific Survey of Physicians on Asthma and allergic Rhinitis) to evaluate physician perceptions and management practices related to AR-asthma overlap in 6 Asian countries was conducted. For Thailand specifically, AR-asthma linkage questionnaires were developed and translated to Thailaland. General physicians (GPs) or pediatricians, randomly selected from hospitals in urban cities, routinely treating >10 asthma patients/month were interviewed. Here we present the results for Thailand.
RESULTS
Two hundred physicians (100 GPs and 100 pediatricians), of whom 70% worked in government hospitals, were interviewed. In their experience, 50% of asthma patients had AR and 28% of AR patients had asthma. Among diagnosed asthma patients, 65% of physicians routinely asked for any AR symptoms at every visit. Among diagnosed AR patients, 63% of physicians routinely asked for any asthma symptoms at every visit. In patients with coexisting AR-asthma, 91% of physicians treated both diseases simultaneously, while 6% of physicians treated asthma as a chronic disease but managed AR symptomatically. The most preferred treatment options for patients with AR-asthma were inhaled corticosteroids with intranasal steroids (46% in GPs, 71% in pediatricians).
CONCLUSION
The physicians interviewed in Thailand are aware about coexistent asthma-AR. There is a need to increase the awareness further for coexistent AR-asthma and to educate nonspecialist physicians in the proper management of AR-asthma patients.

Keyword

Allergic rhinitis; Asthma; Comorbidity; Physician survey; Thailand

MeSH Terms

Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Asthma*
Chronic Disease
Comorbidity
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Rhinitis, Allergic*
Steroids
Thailand*
Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Steroids