In Sub-Saharan Africa, asthma is now the second most common cause of chronic respiratory deaths in the overall population. To assess asthma prevalence and severity among adolescents, researchers conducted a two-part, multi-country, school-based, cross-sectional study. Findings showed a large proportion of adolescents with symptoms of severe asthma are not receiving formal diagnoses and therapy. Almost half of students with asthma symptoms were not able to access emergency medical care. If the data is generalizable, there are millions of adolescents with undiagnosed asthma symptoms in Sub-Saharan Africa.
A research team is questioning the accuracy of methods used to determine degrees of asthma control in US children because those methods fail to consider a child’s history of asthma exacerbations. Researchers found children’s asthma control is overestimated by parents/caregivers, physicians and the Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT). This can place children at risk for future exacerbations. Including exacerbations is an important component in developing the [Pediatric Asthma Impairment and Risk Questionnaire] Peds-AIRQ as a combined impairment and risk tool.