Chest
Clinical InvestigationsAsthmaMortality and Markers of Risk of Asthma Death Among 1,075 Outpatients With Asthma
Section snippets
Patients With Asthma (Cases)
The study population consisted of subjects (>15 years of age) referred to the Allergy and Chest Clinic at Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, by general practitioners because of known or suspected asthma (ICD-8 code 493.0) during the years 1974 to 1990. Patients were included in the analysis only if they met at least two, unless stated otherwise, of the following criteria for asthma: (1) typical history, that is, attacks of breathlessness, wheezing or both, chest tightness and dry cough either
Results
Information concerning current status (dead or alive) at the end of follow-up (1993) was obtained for all the asthmatics (cases, n=1,075) and the controls (n=1,075). Each of the two groups of subjects studied (cases and controls) comprised 425 men and 650 women. The mean follow-up period was 8.6 years (SD 4.2 years) in cases and controls. The age distribution by sex of the asthmatics is given in Table 1.
Mortality from all causes was significantly increased among the asthmatic subjects compared
Discussion
The present study revealed an excess mortality in asthmatics compared with matched controls primarily caused by death from acute and chronic asthma; and, furthermore, eosinophilia and high degree of reversibility following bronchodilator, together with age, level of pulmonary function, and smoking habits are predictors for an increased risk of death from asthma. These findings are of relevance both to epidemiologists who wish to investigate asthma mortality and to clinicians who wish to
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Manuscript revision accepted January 23.