Study Design for a prospective observational study assessing asthma control and management in a Dutch primary care population

Research question: This study aims to describe the degree of asthma control and guideline-based management suggestions in a primary care patient population.Background: Guidelines for asthma management focus on achieving asthma control and future exacerbation risk reduction. Structured asthma review can help to uncover potential management options. Innovative e-health solutions can facilitate health care professionals in optimizing asthma management. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the distribution of asthma patients over treatment recommendations and the characteristics of these patients. Possible methodology: This study enrols 300 asthma patients in Dutch primary care during regular follow-up visits. Eligible patients are adults with a current asthma diagnosis. At the end of the consultation using the Asthma Navigator tool (also known as Refer ID), patients reach one of the management suggestions of the asthma management decision tree. All patients receive standard medical care with additional blood eosinophil measurement using point-of-care testing and complete the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire. The primary outcome is the distribution of asthma patients over the management suggestions of the decision-tree. We will study the association of this distribution with blood eosinophil counts, self-reported WPAI, as well as other pre-existing patient characteristics. Patients referred to secondary care will be monitored for an additional 26 weeks, analyzing these difficult-to-treat asthma cases.Questions to discuss: What other characteristics of this specific population can be studied more effectively using a more consistent asthma management approach? Declaration of Interest The global Refer ID Tool has been developed as part of the AstraZeneca PRECISION program in collaboration with Dr David Jackson, Prof Ricardo del Olmo, Dr Tan Tze Lee, Dr Mona Al Ahmad and Prof Janwillem Kocks. This independent implementation project in the NL is financially supported by AstraZeneca with an educational grant. Dr Kocks reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from AstraZeneca, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim, grants and personal fees from Chiesi Pharmaceuticals, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from GSK, grants and personal fees from Novartis, grants from MundiPharma, grants from TEVA, outside the submitted work. All personal fees are paid to the institutions. All the other authors declare that they have no competing interests. References and Clinical Trial Registry Information