title: Asthma exacerbations: factors related to longer hospital stay.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hospital admissions account for a significant part of asthma cost, but with significant differences between geographic areas.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of our study is to analyse hospital admissions due to asthma, as well as the factors associated with longer hospital stays.
  
  
  METHODS
  A review was retrospectively carried out on all admissions of patients over 18 years old due to exacerbation of asthma occurring in our hospital between the years 2000 and 2010. The personal characteristics of each patient, the asthma personal history, characteristics of every exacerbation, as well as the treatment before admission and after hospital discharge were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, there were 2163 hospital admissions in 1316 patients (mean age 62.6 years; mean hospital stay 11.6 days). The admissions mainly occur in winter, in the 56-75-year age group, and in patients with severe asthma. Female sex, higher comorbidity, a greater number of emergencies due to asthma in the previous year, and baseline treatment with theophylline were independently associated to longer hospital stay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The management of asthma in our population seems improvable. There appears to be a need to optimise both the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, and to identify risk factors as important as tobacco habits. As regards exacerbations, the hospital stay and mortality must be significantly reduced.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medicine , University of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.|b Spanish Biomedical Research Networking Centre , CIBERES , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.|c Department of Respiratory Medicine , University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.|d Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS) , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco-Javier
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Barcala
authors.affiliation: e Department of Respiratory Medicine , Hospital of El Ferrol , El Ferrol , Spain.
authors.forename: Uxio
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Calvo-Alvarez
authors.affiliation: f Faculty of Biology/CIBUS, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology , University of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco-Javier
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Salgado-Castro
authors.affiliation: d Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS) , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.|g Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology , University of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Facal
authors.affiliation: h Emergency Department , Hospital do Salnes , Vilagarcia de Arousa , Spain.
authors.forename: Maria-Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Garcia-Sanz
authors.affiliation: b Spanish Biomedical Research Networking Centre , CIBERES , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.|i Department of Medicine , University Autònoma of Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.|j Department of Respiratory Medicine , Hospital Vall d'Hebron , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.affiliation: c Department of Respiratory Medicine , University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Garcia-Couceiro
authors.affiliation: c Department of Respiratory Medicine , University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
authors.forename: Olalla
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Paz-Neira
authors.affiliation: k Central Laboratory , University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: San-Jose
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medicine , University of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.|c Department of Respiratory Medicine , University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.|d Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS) , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valdes-Cuadrado
authors.affiliation: l Department of Radiology , University of Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
authors.forename: Jose-Martin
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Carreira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Asthma; Exacerbations; Hospital admissions; Length of stay; Risk factors