In a study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, Hayley Lewthwaite, PhD, and colleagues investigated the burden of breathlessness in severe asthma versus mild-to-moderate asthma. The cross-sectional study included 144 participants with mild-to-severe asthma. Participants completed two assessments. Of the participants, 51% had mild-to-moderate asthma and 49% had severe asthma. Most participants were female (72%), with a median age of 63.4 years and a median BMI of 31.3 kg/m². The study showed that physically limiting breathlessness was significantly more common in severe asthma (53%) compared with mild-to-moderate asthma (31%). Additionally, the Dyspnoea-12 Total score was higher in the severe asthma group. Significant predictors of breathlessness included BMI, asthma control, exercise capacity, and hyperventilation symptoms, while airflow limitation and type 2 inflammation were poor predictors.
