Photo Credit: Md Saiful Islam Khan

The following is a summary of “Eosinophil count testing in patients with asthma varies by healthcare provider type in the US: a retrospective study,” published in the October 2024 issue of Allergy and Immunology by Mathur et al. 

Eosinophilic asthma may benefit from targeted treatments, but eosinophil testing prevalence is unclear. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the prevalence of eosinophil testing in asthma by exacerbation frequency and healthcare provider (HCP) type. 

They conducted a retrospective study (GSK ID: 214470) using Merative Explorys® data from 2016–2018. Patients with ≥2 asthma codes were included, with outcomes measuring demographics, clinical characteristics (12 months pre-index), and eosinophil testing prevalence, stratified by exacerbation frequency (<2 or ≥2) and HCP type (Allergist/Pulmonologist, primary care physician (PCP), or other) for 12 months post-index. 

The results showed that among 400,254 patients (mean age 51.2 years; 70.8% female), PCPs were the most common providers (76.8%). Patients with frequent exacerbations had higher eosinophil testing at baseline (55.4–69.5%) and follow-up (67.9–75.1%) than those with infrequent exacerbations (55.5–63.7%, 62.4–67.3%). Patients in the Allergist/Pulmonologist had significantly more tests than PCPs at baseline (59.9% vs. 50.7%, P<0.001) and follow-up (59.0% vs. 56.2%, P<0.001). The mean (SD) tests were 3.4 (5.3) at baseline and 4.1 (6.4) at follow-up, with frequent exacerbators having more tests, particularly in the Allergist/Pulmonologist subgroup (7.4 vs 4.9). For frequent exacerbators, test counts ranged from 3.1 (4.6) to 5.8 (8.3) at baseline and 5.1 (8.5) to 7.4 (10.6) during follow-up. 

Investigators found that blood eosinophil count testing in patients with asthma was suboptimal. Increased testing could have identified eosinophilic phenotypes, aiding decisions on biologic therapy. 

Source: aacijournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13223-024-00917-4