Women, patients with severe asthma, and patients attended by primary care physicians, are at higher risk of suffering from poorly controlled asthma.

AIM: The aim of this exploratory study was to identify those factors associated with asthma control assessed according to GINA Guidelines. METHOD: 809 (56% female) subjects with asthma were recruited consecutively from both specialist and primary care centres. Asthma control was assessed over a 4-week follow-up period using a composite measure. A multivariate analysis was performed, in which asthma control was included as the dependent variable and several explanatory variables were included as independent variables. RESULTS: Analysis performed on the whole population rendered gender (p=0.003), the type of physician (p<0.001), and age group (p<0.001), as significant factors associated with asthma control. In adults, gender (p=0.001), asthma severity (p<0.001), and type of physician (p<0.001) were significant, and only asthma severity was significant (p=0.043) in children. CONCLUSIONS: After model adjustment, we suggest that being female, suffering from more severe asthma, or being attended by a primary care physician, could pose a significantly higher risk of having poorly controlled asthma in adults.

Spanish multicentre study on morbidity and pathogenicity of tracheal bronchus in children.

Tracheal bronchus (TRB) has been generally considered an anatomical variant of the tracheobronchial tree without a precise pathological effect. Its prevalence is estimated to be between 0.2% to 3% of all children undergoing bronchoscopy and scientific information has been limited to case reports or small case series. Our working hypothesis was that TRB could trigger by itself recurrent or persistent respiratory symptoms. The objective of this retrospective and multicentre study of children with a diagnosis of TRB, coming from the main paediatric pulmonology units of Spain, was to determine the anatomical and clinical characteristics, including comorbidities, of TRB in childhood and their impact in the patients' clinical outcomes. One hundred thirty-three patients from 13 institutions were included in the study. Mean diagnostic age was 3.4 years and flexible bronchoscopy was the initial diagnostic method in 85% of cases. All TRB were located on the right wall of the trachea: 76% in the lower third and 24% in the carina. The most common clinical manifestations were obstructive bronchitis (53.3%) and recurrent pneumonia (46.6%), usually affecting the right upper lobe. Regarding associated anomalies, 33% had tracheomalacia, 32% congenital cardiovascular malformations, 28% gastroesophageal reflux, 22.5% congenital tracheal stenosis, and 8.3% Down syndrome. This series appears to be the most extensive published to date addressing this topic and, according to our data, TRB does not appear to be a mere incidental finding but is more likely linked to a wide range of congenital anomalies and contributes by itself to the recurrent respiratory symptomatology that these children exhibit.

[Knowledge of and attitudes and adherence to the Spanish Guidelines for Asthma Management (GEMA) among Spanish health care professionals: the GEMA test Project]. / Opinión, conocimientos y grado de seguimiento referidos por los profesionales sanitarios españoles de la Guía Española para el Manejo del Asma (GEMA). Proyecto GEMA-TEST.

OBJECTIVE: Health care professionals' adherence to asthma guidelines is believed to be low. The aim of the present study was to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and adherence of Spanish health care professionals with respect to the Spanish Guidelines for Asthma Management (GEMA). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A multiple choice test with 15 questions was constructed. Items assessed knowledge of and opinions and adherence to asthma guidelines in general and the GEMA in particular. Test completion was voluntary, individual, and anonymous. RESULTS: A total of 1,066 physicians and nurses took the test. The sample consisted of 241 (22.6%) respiratory medicine specialists and 244 (22.9%) nurses from the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), 221 (20.7%) pediatric pulmonologists from the Spanish Society of Pediatric Pulmonology (SENP), 220 (20.6%) general practitioners from the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), 181 (17%) general practitioners from the Spanish Society of Rural and General Medicine (SEMERGEN), and 38 (3.6%) others. Asthma guidelines were considered useful or very useful by 805 (76%), and 771 (72%) stated they were familiar with the GEMA. However, 388 (36%) admitted that they followed guidelines seldom or never. The level of adherence to the GEMA was poor for 243 (30.3%) respondents. The multivariate analysis revealed that low adherence was associated with the following characteristics: coming from the geographic center or south of Spain; being a primary care physician, unfamiliar with guidelines, or unconvinced of their utility; and not being a user of spirometry. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the majority of Spanish health care professionals surveyed seem to know of the GEMA, their adherence to those guidelines is very low. Educational programs that seek to improve knowledge of asthma guidelines should consider the profile of professionals with low adherence to the GEMA so as to include educational strategies that target them specifically.