Faisal Yunus

Relationship between asthma control status, the Asthma Control Test™ and urgent health-care utilization in Asia

Background and objective:  Accurate assessment of control is an integral part of asthma management. We investigated the relationship between control status derived from the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and urgent health‐care utilization.

Time for a new language for asthma control: results from REALISE Asia

Purpose Asthma is a global health problem, and asthma prevalence in Asia is increasing. The REcognise Asthma and LInk to Symptoms and Experience Asia study assessed patients’ perception of asthma control and attitudes toward treatment in an accessible, real-life adult Asian population. Patients and methods An online survey of 2,467 patients with asthma from eight Asian countries/regions, aged 18–50 years, showed greater than or equal to two prescriptions in previous 2 years and access to social media. Patients were asked about their asthma symptoms, exacerbations and treatment type, views and perceptions of asthma control, attitudes toward asthma management, and sources of asthma information. Results Patients had a mean age of 34.2 (±7.4) years and were diagnosed with asthma for 12.5 (±9.7) years. Half had the Global Initiative for Asthma-defined uncontrolled asthma. During the previous year, 38% of patients visited the emergency department, 33% were hospitalized, and 73% had greater than or equal to one course of oral corticosteroids. About 90% of patients felt that their asthma was under control, 82% considered their condition as not serious, and 59% were concerned about their condition. In all, 66% of patients viewed asthma control as managing attacks and 24% saw it as an absence of or minimal symptoms. About 14% of patients who correctly identified their controller inhalers had controlled asthma compared to 6% who could not. Conclusion Patients consistently overestimated their level of asthma control contrary to what their symptoms suggest. They perceived control as management of exacerbations, reflective of a crisis-oriented mind-set. Interventions can leverage on patients’ trust in health care providers and desire for self-management via a new language to generate a paradigm shift toward symptom control and preventive care.

Validity of the COPD Assessment Test Translated Into Local Languages for Asian Patients

OBJECTIVE Our objective was to evaluate the validity of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT), translated locally, for measuring the health status of patients in Asian countries. METHODS A pooled analysis of cross-sectional studies from Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong was performed. Smokers or ex-smokers, aged ≥ 40 years, with a smoking history of ≥ 10 pack-years and a COPD diagnosis in the past 6 months or more were recruited. Demographic, smoking, and COPD history and spirometry data were collected from patients who completed the CAT or St. Georges Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and had their dyspnea assessed. RESULTS The study included 333 patients with mean age of 69 ± 9 years and smoking history of 38 ± 25 pack-years; 82% had ceased smoking. One-third suffered from cardiovascular comorbidities, 72% reported at least one exacerbation in the past year, and 82% recorded at least moderate health impairment (CAT scores ≥ 10 units). The CAT score was positively correlated with the SGRQ score (r = 0.72, P < .001) and Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnea score (r = 0.50, P < .001) and poorly correlated with the FEV1 (r = -0.23, P < .001) and number of exacerbations in the past year (r = 0.11, P = .04). The relationships between the CAT score and SGRQ score, MRC dyspnea score, or FEV1 did not differ between countries (P value for interaction term = 0.76, 0.75, and 0.06, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The CAT correlated well with the SGRQ and MRC dyspnea score in all countries, and the relationship did not differ between countries despite varying patient characteristics. This suggests that a CAT score in one of these countries has the same clinical significance as the same score in another.

Efficacy and tolerability of budesonide/formoterol added to tiotropium compared with tiotropium alone in patients with severe or very severe COPD: A randomized, multicentre study in East Asia

Triple combination therapy with tiotropium plus budesonide/formoterol has improved lung function and reduced exacerbation risk in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Western countries, but no such data exist for East Asian patients. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of adding budesonide/formoterol to tiotropium compared with tiotropium alone in East Asian patients with severe/very severe COPD.

Asthma in Asia: Physician perspectives on control, inhaler use and patient communications

Abstract Objective: We examined the physician perspectives on asthma management in Asia. Methods: An online/face-to-face, questionnaire-based survey of respiratory specialists and primary care physicians from eight Asian countries/region was carried out. The survey explored asthma control, inhaler selection, technique and use; physician-patient communications and asthma education. Inclusion criteria were >50% of practice time spent on direct patient care; and treated >30 patients with asthma per month, of which >60% were aged >12 years. Results: REALISE Asia (Phase 2) involved 375 physicians with average 15.9(±6.8) years of clinical experience. 89.1% of physicians reporting use of guidelines estimated that 53.2% of their patients have well-controlled (GINA-defined) asthma. Top consideration for inhaler choice was asthma severity (82.4%) and lowest, socio-economic status (32.5%). Then 54.7% of physicians checked their patients’ inhaler techniques during consultations but 28.2(±19.1)% of patients were using their inhalers incorrectly; 21.1–57.9% of physicians could spot improper inhaler techniques in video demonstrations. And 79.6% of physicians believed combination inhalers could increase adherence because of convenience (53.7%), efficacy (52.7%) and usability (18.9%). Initial and follow-up consultations took 16.8(±8.4) and 9.2(±5.3) minutes, respectively. Most (85.1%) physicians used verbal conversations and least (24.5%), video demonstrations of inhaler use; 56.8% agreed that patient attitudes influenced their treatment approach. Conclusion: Physicians and patients have different views of ‘well-controlled’ asthma. Although physicians informed patients about asthma and inhaler usage, they overestimated actual usage and patients’ knowledge was sub-optimal. Physician-patient interactions can be augmented with understanding of patient attitudes, visual aids and ancillary support to perform physical demonstrations to improve treatment outcomes.

The pattern of micro-organisms and the efficacy of new macrolide in acute lower respiratory tract infections.

Abstract Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is one of the major health problems in developing countries such as Indonesia. According to the National Household Health Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health in 1992, LRTIs still rank fourth as the main cause of death in Indonesia. The problem of LRTIs could be simply managed as long as the causative organism can be identified and the proper antibiotic known. In some occasions, it is not quite so easy to identify the causative micro‐organism, especially in lower tract infections. There are several methods of obtaining specimens from LRTIs for cultures. The easiest, most simple way is to collect expectorated sputum. Unfortunately, because of the high rate of contamination by upper respiratory tract flora, this method is not reliable. Recognizing the difficulties with routine expectorated sputum cultures, two alternative approaches have been suggested. One approach is to bypass potential expectorated sputum ‘contaminants’ in the oropharynx by transtracheal aspiration or transthoracic aspiration. The second approach is to modify the usual technique of processing expectorated sputum by either washing techniques or by quantitative cultures. Azithromycin and clarithromycin are chemically related to macrolide erithromycin. Both antibiotics retain the traditional macrolide spectrum of activity against Gram‐positive and atypical pneumonia pathogens, while demonstrating improved activity against Gram‐negative bacteria. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) recommended the use of macrolide for outpatients with community‐acquired pneumonia, without comorbidity and 60 years of age or younger. A total of 34 outpatients with acute LRTIs were open‐comparative, randomly allocated to treatment with the new macrolide in Persahabatan Hospital, Jakarta, 1996. The purposes of this study were: (i) to identify the causative micro‐organisms; and (ii) to evaluate the clinical efficacy of the new macrolide in these infections. Azithromycin 500 mg was given orally once a day for 3 days and was administered 1 h before or 2 h after every meal. Clarithromycin 500 mg was given orally every 12 h for 10 days. The diagnosis of the patients were: 16 with pneumonia, 10 with acute bronchitis and 8 with acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. In this study of 34 patients, the sputum specimens were washed with N acetylcysteine before culture and we could only detect micro‐organisms in one patient. Before treatment, we found 47 strains in 33 (97.05%) patients and after treatment we found five strains. From serological examination, only four (11.76%) atypical bacterial were detected. The most frequently found micro‐organisms were 23 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae (40.42%), 10 of Streptococcus alpha haemolyticus (21.26%), five of Streptococcus pneumoniae (10.63%) and five of Staphylococcus aureus (10.63%). The atypical bacterial were: two Legionella pneumophila, one Mycoplasma pneumoniae and one Chlamydia pneumoniae. The clinical efficacy of new macrolides were 100% and the bacteriological responses with eradication of 94.12% vs 70.59% of isolates in the azithromycin and clarithromycin groups are shown in Table 1. There were no adverse reactions detected in the two treatment groups until the end of the study.

Real-life effectiveness of budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy in asthma patients across Asia: SMARTASIA study

BackgroundThe use of budesonide/formoterol in a single inhaler for both maintenance and reliever therapy is a recommended option for treatment of persistent asthma not responding well to inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) alone.MethodsThis was a multi-centre open-label study on patients whose asthma condition remained inadequately controlled by various asthma treatments other than budesonide/formoterol. After a 2-week run-in period, eligible patients underwent a 12-week treatment period with budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort SMART®, 160/4.5 μg) twice daily plus as needed. Patient’s asthma control and quality of life were assessed using the 5-item Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ-5) and the standardized Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ-S), respectively.ResultsA total of 862 eligible asthma patients who have had asthma for a mean duration of 10.73 ± 12.03 years entered a 12-week treatment with budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy. During treatment, ACQ-5 score improved significantly by 0.58 ± 0.93 (95% CI, 0.51 to 0.64, P < 0.0001) from the baseline level of 1.62 ± 1.00. AQLQ(S) score improved by 0.70 ± 0.89 (95% CI, 0.64 to 0.76, P < 0.0001) from baseline. Asthma symptom score was also reduced significantly (P < 0.0001); between run-in and treatment periods, night- and day-time symptom scores were reduced by 0.32 ± 0.54 (95% CI, 0.28 to 0.35) and 0.30 ± 0.52 (95% CI, 0.27 to 0.34), respectively. The percentage of nights with awakenings due to asthma symptoms was reduced by 11.09 ± 26.13% (95% CI, 9.34 to 12.85%), while the percentage of asthma-control and symptom-free days increased by 20.90 ± 34.40% (95% CI, 18.59 to 23.21%) and 23.89 ± 34.62% (95% CI, 21.56 to 26.21%), respectively (P < 0.0001). Together with the improvement in asthma control, the number of night- and day-time inhalations of as-needed reliever medication decreased by 0.30 ± 0.82 (95% CI, 0.24 to 0.35) inhalations and 0.30 ± 0.97 (95% CI, 0.23 to 0.36) inhalations, respectively (P < 0.0001). No unexpected adverse events were reported.ConclusionDuring treatment of inadequately controlled asthmatic patients with budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy, significant improvement in patients’ asthma control and reductions in asthma symptoms and as-needed medication use was observed. Patients’ quality of life was improved and the treatment was well tolerated.Trial registrationClinicalTrial.gov: (NCT00939341)

The Role of Innate and Adaptive Immune Cells in the Immunopathogenesis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic and progressive inflammatory disease of the airways and lungs that results in limitations of continuous airflow and is caused by exposure to noxious gasses and particles. A major cause of morbidity and mortality in adults, COPD is a complex disease pathologically mediated by many inflammatory pathways. Macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, and CD8+ T-lymphocytes are the key inflammatory cells involved in COPD. Recently, the non-coding small RNA, micro-RNA, have also been intensively investigated and evidence suggest that it plays a role in the pathogenesis of COPD. Here, we discuss the accumulated evidence that has since revealed the role of each inflammatory cell and their involvement in the immunopathogenesis of COPD. Mechanisms of steroid resistance in COPD will also be briefly discussed.

The prevalence and patient characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in non-smokers in Vietnam and Indonesia: An observational survey

An estimated 25–40% of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have never smoked. We investigated the prevalence and patient characteristics of COPD in non‐smokers from Vietnam and Indonesia.

Identification Of Attitudinal Clusters In Patients With Asthma: Analysis From Realise Asia: O-a-011

Background: Aerosol inhaler characteristics such as low plume temperature and high force may result in greater impaction of drug in the mouth and throat and reduced lung deposition.1 This study compared plume temperature and force of two ICS/LABA combination products: fluticasone propionate/formoterol 125/5 μg (flutiform®, FP/FORM) and fluticasone propionate/salmeterol 125/ 50 μg (Seretide®, FP/SAL), delivered via metered-dose inhalers. Methods: Inhalers were held in a fixed device and operated according to manufacturers’ instructions. A thermal imaging video camera, operating at 30 frames per second, recorded plume temperature from the side of the device. The same test rig, with a copper disc attached to a sensitive load cell measured plume force over a range of distances 25 mm to 95 mm from the device. Results: At 25 mm the FP/FORM plume was +6°C, while that of the FP/SAL plume was −38°C. The FP/SAL plume was colder over a longer distance. The force of the FP/SAL plume was greater than that of the FP/FORM device at all distances measured: mean force recorded for FP/SAL was 218.0 mN compared to 104.0 mN for FP/FORM. Conclusion: The FP/SAL plume was considerably colder than the FP/FORM plume particularly over shorter distances. The FP/SAL plume was more forceful, approximately twice that of the FP/FORM device. These differences may be due to different types of HFA propellant with different boiling points, the excipients in each formulation, and actuator geometry. The plume characteristics of the FP/FORM device may facilitate lung deposition and lessen impaction in the throat.