Deploying an asthma dashboard to support quality improvement across a nationally representative sentinel network of 7.6 million people in England.

Every year, there are ~100,000 hospital admissions for asthma in the UK, many of which are potentially preventable. Evidence suggests that carefully conceptualised and implemented audit and feedback (A&F) cycles have the potential to improve clinical outcomes for those with chronic conditions. We wanted to investigate the technical feasibility of developing a near-real time asthma dashboard to support A&F interventions for asthma management in primary care. We extracted cross-sectional data on asthma from 756 participating GP practices in the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre (RCGP RSC) database in England comprising 7.6 million registered people. Summary indicators for a GP practice were compared to all participating RCGP RSC practices using practice-level data, for the week 6-12th-Mar-2023. A weekly, automated asthma dashboard with features that can support electronic-A&F cycles that compared key asthma indicators for a GP practice to RCGP RSC could be created ( https://tinyurl.com/3ydtrt85 ): 12-weeks-incidence 0.4% vs 0.4%, annual prevalence 6.1% vs 6.7%, inhaled relievers to preventer 1.2 vs 1.1, self-management plan given 83.4% vs 60.8%, annual reviews 36.8% vs 57.3%, prednisolone prescriptions 2.0% vs 3.2%, influenza vaccination 56.6% vs 55.5%, pneumococcal vaccination ever (aged ≥65 years) 90.2% vs 84.1% and current smokers 14.9% vs 14.8%. Across the RCGP RSC, the rate of hospitalisations was 0.024%; comparative data had to be suppressed for the study practice because of small numbers. We have successfully created an automated near real-time asthma dashboard that can be used to support A&F initiatives to improve asthma care and outcomes in primary care.

Modifiable risk factors for asthma exacerbations during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study using the Research and Surveillance Centre primary care database.

Background: There were substantial reductions in asthma exacerbations during the COVID-19 pandemic for reasons that remain poorly understood. We investigated changes in modifiable risk factors which might help explain the reductions in asthma exacerbations. Methods: Multilevel generalised linear mixed models were fitted to examine changes in modifiable risk factors for asthma exacerbations during 2020-2022, compared to pre-pandemic year (2019), using observational, routine data from general practices in the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre. Asthma exacerbations were defined as any of GP recorded: asthma exacerbations, prescriptions of prednisolone, accident and emergency department attendance or hospitalisation for asthma. Modifiable risk factors of interest were ownership of asthma self-management plan, asthma annual review, inhaled-corticosteroid (ICS) prescriptions, influenza vaccinations and respiratory-tract-infections (RTI). Findings: Compared with 2019 (n = 550,995), in 2020 (n = 565,956) and 2022 (n = 562,167) (p < 0.05): asthma exacerbations declined from 67.1% to 51.9% and 61.1%, the proportion of people who had: asthma exacerbations reduced from 20.4% to 15.1% and 18.5%, asthma self-management plans increased from 28.6% to 37.7% and 55.9%; ICS prescriptions increased from 69.9% to 72.0% and 71.1%; influenza vaccinations increased from 14.2% to 25.4% and 55.3%; current smoking declined from 15.0% to 14.5% and 14.7%; lower-RTI declined from 10.5% to 5.3% and 8.1%; upper-RTI reduced from 10.7% to 5.8% and 7.6%. There was cluster effect of GP practices on asthma exacerbations (p = 0.001). People with asthma were more likely (p < 0.05) to have exacerbations if they had LRTI (seven times(x)), had URTI and ILI (both twice), were current smokers (1.4x), PPV vaccinated (1.3x), seasonal flu vaccinated (1.01x), took ICS (1.3x), had asthma reviews (1.09x). People with asthma were less likely to have exacerbations if they had self-management plan (7%), and were partially (4%) than fully COVID-19 vaccinated. Interpretation: We have identified changes in modifiable risk factors for asthma exacerbation that need to be maintained in the post-pandemic era. Funding: Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research and Health Data Research UK.

Mapping Respiratory Health Digital Interventions in South and Southeast Asia: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: The last 2 decades have been a time of exponential growth and maturation for digital health, while the global burden of respiratory disease continues to grow worldwide. Leveraging digital health interventions (DHIs) to manage and mitigate respiratory disease and its adverse health effects presents itself as an obvious path forward. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to understand the current digital landscape and enabling environment around respiratory health to reduce costs, avoid duplication, and understand the comprehensiveness of DHIs. METHODS: This study will follow a scoping review methodology as outlined by Arksey and O'Malley, the Joanna Briggs Institute, and the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) checklist. MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PakiMedNet, and MyMedR databases will be searched along with key websites, repositories, and gray literature databases. The terms "respiratory health," "digital health," "South Asia," and "Southeast Asia," as well as related terms will be searched. The results will be screened for duplicates and then against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. For the studies included, data will be extracted, collated, and analyzed. RESULTS: The scoping review was started in July 2023 and will be finalized by February 2024. Results will be presented following the World Health Organization's classification of DHIs to categorize interventions in a standardized format and the mobile health evidence reporting and assessment checklist to report on the effectiveness of interventions. Further exposition of the evidence extracted will be presented through narrative synthesis. CONCLUSIONS: As DHIs continue to proliferate, the need to understand the current landscape becomes more pertinent. In this scoping review, we will seek to more clearly understand what digital health tools and technologies are being used in the current landscape of digital health in South and Southeast Asia for respiratory health and to what extent they are addressing the respiratory health needs of the region. The results will inform recommendations on digital health tools for respiratory health in South and Southeast Asia will help funders and implementers of DHIs leverage existing technologies and accelerate innovations that address documented gaps in the studied countries. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/52517.

Investigating the impact of London's ultra low emission zone on children's health: children's health in London and Luton (CHILL) protocol for a prospective parallel cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Air pollution harms health across the life course. Children are at particular risk of adverse effects during development, which may impact on health in later life. Interventions that improve air quality are urgently needed both to improve public health now, and prevent longer-term increased vulnerability to chronic disease. Low Emission Zones are a public health policy intervention aimed at reducing traffic-derived contributions to urban air pollution, but evidence that they deliver health benefits is lacking. We describe a natural experiment study (CHILL: Children's Health in London and Luton) to evaluate the impacts of the introduction of London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) on children's health. METHODS: CHILL is a prospective two-arm parallel longitudinal cohort study recruiting children at age 6-9 years from primary schools in Central London (the focus of the first phase of the ULEZ) and Luton (a comparator site), with the primary outcome being the impact of changes in annual air pollutant exposures (nitrogen oxides [NOx], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5micrograms [PM2.5], and less than 10 micrograms [PM10]) across the two sites on lung function growth, measured as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) over five years. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, cognitive development, mental health, quality of life, health inequalities, and a range of respiratory and health economic data. DISCUSSION: CHILL's prospective parallel cohort design will enable robust conclusions to be drawn on the effectiveness of the ULEZ at improving air quality and delivering improvements in children's respiratory health. With increasing proportions of the world's population now living in large urban areas exceeding World Health Organisation air pollution limit guidelines, our study findings will have important implications for the design and implementation of Low Emission and Clean Air Zones in the UK, and worldwide. CLINICALTRIALS: GOV: NCT04695093 (05/01/2021).

Device-Measured Change in Physical Activity in Primary School Children During the UK COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: A Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Lockdown measures, including school closures, due to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused widespread disruption to children's lives. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of a national lockdown on children's physical activity using seasonally matched accelerometry data. METHODS: Using a pre/post observational design, 179 children aged 8 to 11 years provided physical activity data measured using hip-worn triaxial accelerometers worn for 5 consecutive days prepandemic and during the January to March 2021 lockdown. Multilevel regression analyses adjusted for covariates were used to assess the impact of lockdown on time spent in sedentary and moderate to vigorous physical activity. RESULTS: A 10.8-minute reduction in daily time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (standard error: 2.3 min/d, P < .001) and a 33.2-minute increase in daily sedentary activity (standard error: 5.5 min/d, P < .001) were observed during lockdown. This reflected a reduction in daily moderate to vigorous physical activity for those unable to attend school (-13.1 [2.3] min/d, P < .001) during lockdown, with no significant change for those who continued to attend school (0.4 [4.0] min/d, P < .925). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the loss of in-person schooling was the single largest impact on physical activity in this cohort of primary school children in London, Luton, and Dunstable, United Kingdom.

Nurse Leadership Post COVID Pandemic-A Framework for Digital Healthcare Innovation and Transformation.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic generated a series of profound and unprecedented challenges for health and social care systems and those frontline clinicians responsible for delivering services including nurses. One consequence has been the rapid and widespread introduction of a range of digital tools, solutions, and initiatives. In the United Kingdom, this has required clinical leadership to drive implementation and adoption of digital innovations across the system, ranging from those in senior executive board level positions to those on the frontline. Findings: This commentary presents a framework highlighting the breadth of digital transformations which emerged as a consequence of the U.K. health and social care systems' response to the COVID-19 crisis. The framework outlines the different levels of digital transformation, ranging from what we have termed "ceremonial adoption" to isolated automation, organizational integration, and full systems integration. We reflect on the nursing leadership practices that need to be in place to support these changes. Conclusion: Whilst acknowledging the extraordinary results achieved by the COVID-19 driven tsunami of digital transformation, we reflect on the essential steps required to translate these nascent, isolated efforts into fully integrated, long-term solutions. We also offer recommendations for clinical digital leaders and suggest steps that will be crucial to translate the temporary and/or limited interventions into effective, permanent features of our health and social care systems, while also providing a platform on which to build future digital capabilities. We will inevitably continue to see an increase in the use of technology in everyday clinical practice, and nurses are well positioned to take a lead in its widespread adoption.

The NHS Digital Academy Digital Health Leadership Programme.

The Digital Health Leadership Programme is commissioned by Health Education England and part of the wider NHS Digital Academy. The Programme is a consortium of Imperial College London's Institute of Global Health Innovation, The University of Edinburgh's Usher Institute and Harvard Medical School. In 2021, Health Data Research UK joined Imperial and Edinburgh to deliver phase 2. The aim is to develop a new generation of digital health leaders to drive transformation of the NHS through digitisation. Participants gain the skills and knowledge to create change so that patient care and organisational operations can benefit from the many improvements and innovations modern technology has to offer.

Primary Care Management of Asthma Exacerbations or Attacks: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a renewed focus on appropriate management of chronic respiratory conditions with a heightened awareness of respiratory symptoms and the requirement for differential diagnosis between an asthma attack and COVID-19 infection. Despite early concerns in the pandemic, most studies suggest that well-managed asthma is not a risk factor for more severe COVID-related outcomes, and that asthma may even have a protective effect. Advice on the treatment of asthma and asthma attacks has remained unchanged. This article describes some challenges faced in primary care asthma management in adults and in teenagers, particularly their relevance during a pandemic, and provides practical advice on asthma attack recognition, classification, treatment and continuity of care. Acute attacks, characterised by increased symptoms and reduced lung function, are often referred to as exacerbations of asthma by doctors and nurses but are usually described by patients as asthma attacks. They carry a significant and underestimated morbidity and mortality burden. Many patients experiencing an asthma attack are assessed in primary care for treatment and continuing management. This may require remote assessment by telephone and home monitoring devices, where available, during a pandemic. Differentiation between an asthma attack and a COVID-19 infection requires a structured clinical assessment, taking account of previous medical and family history. Early separation into mild, moderate, severe or life-threatening attacks is helpful for continuing good management. Most attacks can be managed in primary care but when severe or unresponsive to initial treatment, the patient should be appropriately managed until transfer to an acute care facility can be arranged. Good quality care is important to prevent further attacks and must include a follow-up appointment in primary care, proactive regular dosing with daily controller therapy and an understanding of a patient's beliefs and perceptions about asthma to maximise future self-management.

Improving vaccination rates in older adults and at-risk groups: focus on pertussis.

Despite the implementation of effective paediatric vaccination programmes, pertussis remains a global health problem. Disease epidemiology has changed over time, shifting towards the adolescent and adult populations. In adults, the true burden of pertussis is greatly underestimated and pertussis vaccine coverage rates are suboptimal, including individuals with chronic conditions. Here, we report the outcomes of a virtual international scientific workshop to assess the evidence on the burden of pertussis in older adults and identify potential solutions to improve uptake of pertussis vaccines. In adults, pertussis is underdiagnosed in part due to atypical or milder clinical presentation and the lack of testing and case confirmation. However, contemporary epidemiological data denoted an increase in the burden of pertussis among adolescents and adults. This might be related to a variety of reasons including the waning of immunity over time, the lack of booster vaccination, and the improved diagnostic methods that led to increased recognition of the disease in adults. Pertussis sequelae can be severe in older adults, particularly those with existing chronic medical conditions, and the vulnerability of these groups is further enhanced by low pertussis vaccine coverage. Possible measures to increase vaccine uptake include strengthening and harmonisation of immunisation guidelines, healthcare professionals taking a more active role in recommending pertussis vaccination, involvement of vaccination centres and pharmacies in the vaccination process, and improving knowledge of pertussis burden and vaccine efficacy among the general population.

Treatment patterns among non-active users of maintenance asthma medication in the United Kingdom: a retrospective cohort study in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Objective: To describe patient characteristics, treatment patterns and healthcare utilization (HCU) of non-active users of maintenance asthma medications in the United Kingdom.Methods: Retrospective, cohort analysis of patients with asthma, aged ≥ 6 years who were non-active users of maintenance therapy (no prescription for inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), combined ICS/long-acting beta agonists (ICS/LABA) or 'other' bronchodilatory therapies in last 12 months) were identified in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (2012-2015) and followed-up for 2 years after a new prescription for an asthma maintenance medication (index date). Patient characteristics, most common maintenance treatment sequences and HCU were described.Results: 55,293 patients were identified (ICS: 46,297, ICS/LABA: 8,367; Other: 629). Mean age was 37 years and 56% were female. During follow-up, the most common treatment sequences across groups implied intermittent use, comprising periods of maintenance therapy interspersed with maintenance-free periods. During year 1 and year 2 of follow-up, the proportion of patients prescribed OCS was 19% and 13%, prescribed ≥ 4 short-acting bronchodilators (SABD) was 24% and 19%, having ≥ 3 asthma-related primary care consultations/year was 59% and 36% and experiencing ≥ 1 exacerbation/year was 15% and 11%, respectively.Conclusions: In previously non-active users of asthma maintenance medication subsequently commenced on maintenance therapy, intermittent use was common during the 2-year follow-up despite the potential need for regular use as evidenced by patient HCU and SABD usage patterns. This highlights the need for regular patient assessment and education on medication adherence to ensure appropriateness of prescribing to maintain asthma control.

Improving primary care management of asthma: do we know what really works?

Asthma imposes a substantial burden on individuals and societies. Patients with asthma need high-quality primary care management; however, evidence suggests the quality of this care can be highly variable. Here we identify and report factors contributing to high-quality management. Twelve primary care global asthma experts, representing nine countries, identified key factors. A literature review (past 10 years) was performed to validate or refute the expert viewpoint. Key driving factors identified were: policy, clinical guidelines, rewards for performance, practice organisation and workforce. Further analysis established the relevant factor components. Review evidence supported the validity of each driver; however, impact on patient outcomes was uncertain. Single interventions (e.g. healthcare practitioner education) showed little effect; interventions driven by national policy (e.g. incentive schemes and teamworking) were more effective. The panel's opinion, supported by literature review, concluded that multiple primary care interventions offer greater benefit than any single intervention in asthma management.

A worldwide charter for all children with asthma.

Childhood asthma is a huge global health burden. The spectrum of disease, diagnosis, and management vary depending on where children live in the world and how their community can care for them. Global improvement in diagnosis and management has been unsatisfactory, despite ever more evidence-based guidelines. Guidelines alone are insufficient and need supplementing by government support, changes in policy, access to diagnosis and effective therapy for all children, with research to improve implementation. We propose a worldwide charter for all children with asthma, a roadmap to better education and training which can be adapted for local use. It includes access to effective basic asthma medications. It is not about new expensive medications and biologics as much can be achieved without these. If implemented carefully, the overall cost of care is likely to fall and the global future health and life chance of children with asthma will greatly improve. The key to success will be community involvement together with the local and national development of asthma champions. We call on governments, institutions, and healthcare services to support its implementation.

Nursing Research Priorities in Critical Care, Pulmonary, and Sleep: International Delphi Survey of Nurses, Patients, and Caregivers.

The objective of this workshop was to determine current nursing research priorities in critical care, adult pulmonary, and sleep conditions through input from consumer (patient, family, and formal and informal caregivers) and nursing experts around the world. Working groups composed of nurses and patients selected potential research priorities based on patient insight and a literature review of patient-reported outcomes, patient-reported experiences, and processes and clinical outcomes in the focal areas. A Delphi consensus approach, using a qualitative survey method to elicit expert opinion from nurses and consumers was conducted. Two rounds of online surveys available in English, Spanish, and Chinese were completed. A 75% or greater threshold for endorsement (combined responses from nursing and consumer participants) was determined a priori to retain survey items. A total of 837 participants (649 nurses and 188 patients, family, and/or caregivers) from 45 countries responded. Survey data were analyzed and nursing research priorities that comprise 23 critical care, 45 adult pulmonary, and 16 sleep items were identified. This project was successful in engaging a wide variety of nursing and consumer experts, applying a patient-reported outcome/patient-reported experience framework for organizing and understanding research priorities. The project outcome was a research agenda to inform, guide, and aid nurse scientists, educators, and providers, and to advise agencies that provide research and program funding in these fields.

A Patient-Centered Description of Severe Asthma: Patient Understanding Leading to Assessment for a Severe Asthma Referral (PULSAR)

BACKGROUND: Although severe asthma can be life-threatening, many patients are unaware they have this condition. OBJECTIVES: Patient Understanding Leading to Assessment for a Severe Asthma Referral (PULSAR) is a novel, multidisciplinary working group aiming to develop and disseminate a global, patient-centered description of severe asthma to improve patient understanding of severe asthma and effect a change in patient behavior whereby patients are encouraged to visit their healthcare professional, when appropriate. METHODS: Current definitions from patient organization websites, asthma guidelines, and medication information for key asthma drugs were assessed and informed a multidisciplinary working group, convened to identify common concepts and terminology used to define severe asthma. A patient-centered description of severe asthma and patient checklist were drafted based on working-group discussions and reviewed by an external behavioral scientist for patient understanding and relevance. These were tested using an online US/Canadian survey. RESULTS: The patient-centered description of severe asthma and patient checklist were reviewed and re-drafted by the authors. The text was simplified following the behavioral-scientist review. The survey (n = 153) included 105 patients with severe asthma. Of those with severe asthma, 92.2% of patients reported that the description was consistent with their experiences of severe asthma and 92.6% of patients reported that the PULSAR initiative would encourage them to visit their healthcare provider. CONCLUSION: A patient-centered description of severe asthma has been developed and tested using patients with severe asthma; this description will allow patients to assess whether they might have severe asthma and prompt them to visit their healthcare provider, if appropriate.

Severe asthma is a serious form of asthma. It can be harmful to your health and affect the way you live your life. Some patients do not know that they have severe asthma or visit their doctor and ask for help. A new group, called Patient Understanding Leading to Assessment for a Severe Asthma Referral (PULSAR), would like to help patients understand their asthma symptoms. They have developed a description of severe asthma and a checklist. These may help patients decide if their symptoms require a visit to the doctor.The PULSAR description and checklist were developed in four parts. Part 1 looked at if patients and doctors/nurses defined severe asthma in the same way. Results showed that patients defined severe asthma using symptoms and doctors defined severe asthma using treatments. In Part 2, patients, patient advocacy group members, nurses, doctors, specialists, and a scientist talked about the ways severe asthma were described in Part 1. The group agreed on a set of words to describe severe asthma. These words were then used in the PULSAR description and checklist. In Part 3, a behavioral scientist reviewed the PULSAR description and checklist. They said that simple language would make it easy to understand. In Part 4, patients with severe asthma were asked what they thought about the description and checklist using an online survey. The survey showed that almost all patients understood the description and checklist. Many patients said that the description and checklist encouraged them to see a doctor.A new description of severe asthma and checklist have been developed by PULSAR. Testing shows that they should encourage patients to visit their doctor when needed. This may help patients understand their symptoms and help doctors make the correct diagnosis. This should help patients get the support and treatment they need.

A review of the burden and management of mild asthma in adults - Implications for clinical practice.

Mild asthma is present in 50-75% of patients with asthma and is defined by the Global Initiative for Asthma as asthma that can be well controlled with low-intensity treatments (Steps 1 and 2). Despite this definition, 'mild' asthma is often not well controlled in reality, and can have a significant impact on an individual's symptom burden and quality of life. We performed a PubMed literature search to investigate the burden of 'mild' asthma in the lives of patients, including future risk and asthma control, and the current management strategies. While clinical guidelines recommend long-term, daily, low-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for 'mild' asthma, published data suggest that ICS are often under-prescribed or used intermittently as symptoms arise. Furthermore, patients and physicians tend to overestimate disease control, impacting the accuracy of diagnosing 'mild asthma' and subsequent management. This disconnect may be amplified by miscommunication between patients and physicians, limited objective assessment of control, and differences in guidelines. As with moderate and severe asthma, current evidence supports early initiation of regular ICS in 'mild' asthma to address the underlying inflammation, achieve symptom control and reduce risk of exacerbations. Adherence to ICS treatment is key and can be improved by educating both patients and healthcare professionals. The results of this literature search challenge the term 'mild' asthma and suggest strategies to improve the proactive management of the disease to enable patients to live symptom-free.

IMP2ART systematic review of education for healthcare professionals implementing supported self-management for asthma.

Despite a robust evidence base for its effectiveness, implementation of supported self-management for asthma is suboptimal. Professional education is an implementation strategy with proven effectiveness, though the specific features linked with effectiveness are often unclear. We performed a systematic review of randomised controlled trials and controlled clinical trials (published from 1990 and updated to May 2017 using forward citation searching) to determine the effectiveness of professional education on asthma self-management support and identify features of effective initiatives. Primary outcomes reflected professional behaviour change (provision of asthma action plans) and patient outcomes (asthma control; unscheduled care). Data were coded using the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Taxonomy, the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), and Bloom's Taxonomy and synthesised narratively. Of 15,637 articles identified, 18 (reporting 15 studies including 21 educational initiatives) met inclusion criteria. Risk of bias was high for five studies, and unclear for 10. Three of 6 initiatives improved action plan provision; 1/2 improved asthma control; and 2/7 reduced unscheduled care. Compared to ineffective initiatives, effective initiatives were more often coded as being guideline-based; involving local opinion leaders; including inter-professional education; and addressing the TDF domains 'social influences'; 'environmental context and resources'; 'behavioural regulation'; 'beliefs about consequences'; and 'social/professional role and identity'. Findings should be interpreted cautiously as many strategies were specified infrequently. However, identified features warrant further investigation as part of implementation strategies aiming to improve the provision of supported self-management for asthma.

Identifying Patient Attitudinal Clusters Associated with Asthma Control: The European REALISE Survey.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a highly heterogeneous disease that can be classified into different clinical phenotypes, and treatment may be tailored accordingly. However, factors beyond purely clinical traits, such as patient attitudes and behaviors, can also have a marked impact on treatment outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to further analyze data from the REcognise Asthma and LInk to Symptoms and Experience (REALISE) Europe survey, to identify distinct patient groups sharing common attitudes toward asthma and its management. METHODS: Factor analysis of respondent data (N = 7,930) from the REALISE Europe survey consolidated the 34 attitudinal variables provided by the study population into a set of 8 summary factors. Cluster analyses were used to identify patient clusters that showed similar attitudes and behaviors toward each of the 8 summary factors. RESULTS: Five distinct patient clusters were identified and named according to the key characteristics comprising that cluster: "Confident and self-managing," "Confident and accepting of their asthma," "Confident but dependent on others," "Concerned but confident in their health care professional (HCP)," and "Not confident in themselves or their HCP." Clusters showed clear variability in attributes such as degree of confidence in managing their asthma, use of reliever and preventer medication, and level of asthma control. CONCLUSIONS: The 5 patient clusters identified in this analysis displayed distinctly different personal attitudes that would require different approaches in the consultation room certainly for asthma but probably also for other chronic diseases.

Evaluation of the current landscape of respiratory nurse specialists in the UK: planning for the future needs of patients.

INTRODUCTION: The National Health Service currently faces significant challenges and must optimise effective workforce planning and management. There are increasing concerns regarding poor workforce planning for respiratory medicine; a greater understanding of the role of respiratory nurse specialists will inform better workforce planning and management. METHODS: This was a survey study. Two surveys were administered: an organisational-level survey and an individual respiratory nurse survey. RESULTS: There were 148 and 457 respondents to the organisational and individual nurse survey, respectively. Four main themes are presented: (1) breadth of service provided; (2) patient care; (3) work environment; and (4) succession planning. The majority of work conducted by respiratory nurse specialists relates to patient care outside the secondary care setting including supporting self-management in the home, supporting patients on home oxygen, providing hospital-at-home services and facilitating early discharge from acute care environments. Yet, most respiratory nursing teams are employed by secondary care trusts and located within acute environments. There was evidence of multidisciplinary working, although integrated care was not prominent in the free-text responses. High workload was reported with one-quarter of nursing teams short-staffed. Respiratory nurses reported working unpaid extra hours and a lack of administrative support that often took them away from providing direct patient care. Nearly half of the present sample either plan to retire or are eligible for retirement within 10 years. CONCLUSIONS: This survey report provides a current snapshot of the respiratory nurse specialist workforce in the UK. This workforce is an ageing population; the results from this survey can be used to inform succession planning and to ensure a viable respiratory nurse specialist workforce in future.