Determinants of Severe Asthma – A Long-Term Cohort Study in Northern Sweden

• Main Authors: Backman H, Stridsman C, Hedman L, Rönnebjerg L, Nwaru BI, Sandström T, Kankaanranta H, Lindberg A, Rönmark E
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2022
• Subjects: epidemiology; phenotype; precision medicine; prognosis; risk factors; Immunologic diseases. Allergy; RC581-607; Kankaanranta; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/9e128e56de0b49f3ab7b8499bc20aba2

Helena Backman,1 Caroline Stridsman,2 Linnea Hedman,1 Lina Rönnebjerg,3 Bright I Nwaru,3,4 Thomas Sandström,2 Hannu Kankaanranta,3,5,6 Anne Lindberg,2 Eva Rönmark1 1Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health/the OLIN unit, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; 2Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Medicine/the OLIN unit, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; 3Krefting Research Centre, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; 4Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; 5Department of Respiratory Medicine, Seinäjoki Central Hospital, Seinäjoki, Finland; 6Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, FinlandCorrespondence: Helena Backman, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health/the OLIN Unit, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden, Email [e-mail]: Risk factors for severe asthma are not well described. The aim was to identify clinical characteristics and risk factors at study entry that are associated with severe asthma at follow-up in a long-term prospective population-based cohort study of adults with asthma.Methods: Between 1986 and 2001, 2055 adults with asthma were identified by clinical examinations of population-based samples in northern Sweden. During 2012– 2014, n = 1006 (71% of invited) were still alive, residing in the study area and participated in a follow-up, of which 40 were identified as having severe asthma according to ERS/ATS, 131 according to GINA, while 875 had other asthma. The mean follow-up time was 18.7 years.Results: Obesity at study entry and adult-onset asthma were associated with severe asthma at follow-up. While severe asthma was more common in those with adult-onset asthma in both men and women, the association with obesity was observed in women only. Sensitization to mites and moulds, but not to other allergens, as well as NSAID-related ...