PMID: 30019677Jul 19, 2018Paper

Predictors of benefit from high-altitude climate therapy in adults with severe asthma

The Netherlands Journal of Medicine
Simone HashimotoE H Bel

Abstract

High-altitude climate therapy has been shown to benefit patients with severe asthma but it is not known which patients benefit most from this treatment. In the current study we aimed to identify clinical, functional and inflammatory predictors of favourable outcome of high-altitude climate therapy. This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort including 136 adult patients with a diagnosis of severe refractory asthma, referred to the Dutch Asthma Centre in Davos (1600 metres above sea level), Switzerland. They had assessments of medication usage, asthma-related quality of life (Asthma-related Quality of Life Questionnaire, AQLQ), asthma control, body mass index (BMI), sino-nasal symptoms, fatigue, lung function (forced expiratory volume in one second, FEV1), exercise tolerance, allergy and inflammation (fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, blood eosinophils) at entry and after 12 weeks of treatment. Five clinically relevant outcomes were considered: AQLQ, oral corticosteroid dose, FEV1, body mass index and blood eosinophils. Independent predictors of beneficial outcome were identified by multiple linear regression analysis. Lower blood eosinophil counts (p < 0.01), younger age (p = 0.02) and poorer asthma control (p < 0.01) ...Continue Reading

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