title: Asthma outcomes revisited.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Asthma outcomes constitute the cornerstone of asthma clinical research. Despite their known importance, it has been difficult for researchers to standardize these outcomes in large part because of the heterogeneity of the disease. This review seeks to provide an overview of recent recommendations for standardization of asthma outcomes in clinical trials, as well as discuss areas of future interest.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Several outcome measures have been recommended and are used in evaluating different interventions in asthma clinical trials. Such outcomes include lung function, asthma control measures, symptoms, exacerbations, quality of life, biomarkers, healthcare utilization and cost of care. More recently, recommendations for core measures, supplemental measures and future areas of interest for all future asthma clinical trials have been recommended by the Asthma Outcomes Workshop supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in the US.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Standardization of asthma outcomes allows the comparison of results across multiple studies and centers. The recommendations of the Asthma Outcomes Workshop constitute an excellent first step in standardizing the way in which asthma outcomes are assessed. The asthma research community is now charged with implementing these recommendations and expanding upon them.
authors.affiliation: Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Amit D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Parulekar
authors.forename: Ammar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alobaidy
authors.forename: Nicola A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Hanania
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D019468:Disease Management; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests