title: Asthma mortality in Birmingham 1975-7: 53 deaths.
abstract: Out of 83 patients studied 72 were certified as dying from asthma, and 11 aged under 45 as dying from chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. Fifty-three deaths were thought to be due to asthma. There were avoidable factors associated with several of these deaths from asthma. Recent discharge from hospital (16%), non-availability of aerosol bronchodilators (45%), underuse of corticosteroids (66%), and lack of objective measurements of airflow obstruction (100%) were found in deaths outside hospital. Inadequate initial assessment including baseline spirometry and blood gases (50%), significant underusage of corticosteroids (93%) and intravenous and nebulised bronchodilators (100%), and failure to monitor treatment objectively (100%) were found in deaths in hospital. "False-positive" and "false-negative" certifications of asthma were studied, and the findings suggest that these may lead to appreciable inaccuracy in the reporting of deaths from asthma.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D011239:Prednisolone