title: Tracing uncontrolled asthma in family practice using a mailed asthma control questionnaire.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A substantial proportion of adult patients with asthma have inadequately controlled symptoms despite the availability of effective treatment. The Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) can be used to discriminate between asthma patients with well- and suboptimally controlled asthma symptoms. The objective of this study was to investigate whether a postal mailing of the ACQ can be used to identify asthma patients with suboptimal symptom control in family practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this observational study, we sent 434 asthma patients from 6 Dutch family practices an ACQ by mail to measure control of their asthma symptoms. Both respondents and nonrespondents were characterized by information gathered from their medical records. Patients with an ACQ sum score (total score) of greater than 3 were considered to have suboptimally controlled asthma symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 77%. Respondents were more likely than non-respondents to be female and to use asthma medication. The mean ACQ sum score of the respondents was 5.2. Of this group, 53.4% (95% confidence interval, 48.0%-58.8%) had suboptimally controlled asthma symptoms. Of the 168 respondents who had not visited their family physician in the 2 years before the study, 42.9% (95% confidence interval, 35.4%-50.4%) had inadequate asthma symptom control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that a postal mailing of the ACQ is an effective approach for tracing asthma patients who need medical attention. It also traces patients who would otherwise not have consulted their family physician. The ACQ seems to be a useful starting point for health care professionals in family practice to improve the level of asthma symptom control in their patient population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Practice, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. L.vandennieuwenhof@hag.umcn.nl
authors.forename: Lotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van den Nieuwenhof
authors.forename: Tjard
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schermer
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heins
authors.forename: Joke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grootens
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eysink
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bottema
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Weel
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bindels
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents