The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma
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The last half-century has seen substantial changes in asthma treatment and care. We investigated whether arterial blood gas parameters in acute and non-acute asthma have changed historically. ⋯ In studies of habitual-state asthma, mean reported P(aO2) and P(aCO2) levels were found to have increased since 1967. In acute asthma studies, mean P(aO2) and P(aCO2) were associated with mean FEV1% but not with either publication year or patient age.
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Comparative Study
Asthma management and inhalation techniques among community pharmacists in 2009: a comparison with the 1999 survey.
In a 1999 survey, community pharmacists from the Alsace region of France had a reasonably good knowledge of asthma treatment and prevention, but their skill in the use of asthma inhalation devices left room for improvement. Since then, health authorities have encouraged the involvement of community pharmacists in patient care and education in order to improve asthma control. The aim of this study was to assess the change in the knowledge of asthma management and inhaler technique skills of community pharmacists in the same geographic area after a 10-year interval. ⋯ Since 1999, pharmacists' skill in the use of inhalers has improved, but theoretical knowledge of asthma management is still average, pointing to the importance of continuing pharmaceutical education.
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Effective management of asthma requires the development of a partnership between the patient and his or her health care professionals. In a number of countries, including Turkey, pharmacy workers are the last link in the asthma therapy chain and usually give information to their patients about the use of these drugs and asthma. As a result, we investigated knowledge of asthma and the use of inhaler devices in pharmacy workers in Istanbul pharmacies. ⋯ Istanbul pharmacy workers have limited knowledge about asthma and inhaler devices and need further education, which may contribute to improved asthma control in Turkey.
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Asthma is a leading cause of emergency department (ED) visits. There has been much debate on the impact of direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) on healthcare. This study seeks to examine the association between DTCA expenditure and asthma-related ED use. ⋯ Our findings suggest that DTCA may be associated with improved health outcomes for Medicaid-enrolled children with asthma.
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To examine the association between numbers of primary care provider (PCP) visits for asthma monitoring (AM) over time and acute asthma visits in the emergency department (ED) and at the PCP for Medicaid-insured children. ⋯ Asthma monitoring visits and documented controller medication for these urban Medicaid-insured children occurred infrequently over 3 years, and having more asthma monitoring visits was not associated with fewer ED or PCP acute asthma visits.