The following is a summary of “Development and Dynamic Responsiveness of the Acute Asthma Exacerbation Survey in Patients With Moderate to Severe Disease,” published in the November 2023 issue of Allergy and Clinical Immunology by Laurenzo et al.

For a study, researchers sought to devise an instrument specifically tailored for predicting acute exacerbations in asthma. The existing surveys assessing asthma control are deemed ill-suited for studying these acute episodes due to inadequate recall periods and response scales. The primary goal was to create an instrument capable of anticipating exacerbations following the initiation of acute symptoms. Furthermore, the developed tool is intended to feature a recall window of sufficient brevity, enabling a focused examination of the recovery process. They made the six-item Acute Asthma Exacerbation Survey (AAES). For people with severe asthma who were following a set continuous plan, data were taken at baseline, acute, and healing visits. When people got a cold, they immediately made appointments for acute study visits. Samples from nasal wash and tests of lung function were also taken. 

Researchers used Cronbach α, Spearman correlations, and Kruskal-Wallace to examine the AAES data. They used logistic regression to find out what would cause bursts of oral corticosteroids (OCS). Of the 130 people who were studied at the start, 52 returned for an urgent visit. The AAES scores were higher at the acute visit and returned to normal after healing, even though no respiratory viruses were found. At each visit, the AAES’s Cronbach α value was 0.853, 0.822, and 0.889. 

People who had flare-ups had higher acute AAES scores (16 [13.5-18] vs. 11.5 [8.2-14], median [interquartile range]; P =.017) and a bigger drop in lung function from baseline compared to people who didn’t need burst OCS. The risk ratio for burst OCS use was 1.64 (95% CI, 1.04–2.57; P =.030) for every 3 points rise in AAES scores. The AAES is internally consistent and changes based on how bad asthma is getting. More confirmation studies were needed to help with clinical decision-making and support future trials.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221321982300778X