title: Asthma control in general practice -- GP and patient perspectives compared.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  How general practitioners (GPs) and patients perceive asthma control, and concordance between these perceptions, may influence asthma management and medication adherence. The aims of this study were to determine asthma prevalence in adult patients, measure patient asthma control and the correlation between GP and patient perceptions of asthma control or impact.
  
  
  METHODS
  A Supplementary Analysis of Nominated Data (SAND) sub-study of the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) program surveyed 2563 patients from 103 GPs. Asthma control was measured using the Asthma Control Questionnaire 5-item version (ACQ-5), and medication adherence by patient self-report. Survey procedures in SAS software and Pearson's correlation statistics were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Asthma prevalence was 12.7% (95% confidence interval: 10.9-14.5), with good correlation between GP and patient perceptions of asthma control/impact, and with raw ACQ-5 scores. Grouped ACQ-5 scores showed higher levels of uncontrolled asthma. Medication adherence was sub-optimal.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ACQ-5 questions are useful for assessing asthma control, for prompting medication reviews, and for reinforcing benefits of medication compliance to improve long-term asthma control.
authors.affiliation: BApp Sc(HIM) (Hons), PhD (Med), is Senior Research Fellow, Family Medicine Research Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Kerry L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Armour
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Graeme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D055815:Young Adult