LAUSR

Introduction Among asthma patients who remain uncontrolled despite use of high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) plus a second controller medication or oral corticosteroid (OCS) dependent asthma patients, the latest Global Initiative on Asthma (GINA) guidance characterizes type 2 inflammation (T2) with biomarkers, such as blood eosinophils (EOS) or fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), and atopy. Some comorbidities, such as chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) or atopic dermatitis (AD) should also be considered in determining add-on biologic T2-targeted treatments.1 This study estimated the proportion of uncontrolled, high-dose ICS asthma patients in the Eurasian Middle East (EME) region based on T2 comorbidities and exacerbation history. Methods A cross-sectional survey of physicians was conducted between June 6, 2018 and July 18, 2018. Pulmonologists, allergists and general practitioners from Russia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Turkey reported data from medical records of a convenience sample of their six most recent patients age 12+ years. This analysis described the uncontrolled severe asthma population in terms of OCS use, number of exacerbations in past year and T2 asthma-related comorbidities. Results 358 uncontrolled asthma patients age 12+ on a high-dose ICS regimen plus at least one controller were included (Russia=121, UAE=50, Saudi Arabia=52, Turkey=135) (table 1). Conclusions A high proportion of severe asthma patients had evidence of T2 asthma as reflected by the proportion of patients having allergic rhinitis, nasal polyposis and atopic dermatitis. Additionally, more than a third of patients had experienced two or more exacerbations in the past year. Reference Difficult-To-Treat & Severe Asthma in Adolescent and Adult Patients. Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), 2019. Available from www.ginasthma.org Date last updated. 2019Abstract P154 Table 1 Pooled n (%) Russia n (%) UAE n (%) Saudi Arabia n(%) Turkey n (%) Uncontrolled severe asthma patients age 12+ on high-dose ICS plus ≥ 1 controller* N 358 (100) 121 (100) 50 (100) 52 (100) 135 (100) Type 2 asthma-related comorbidities Atopic Dermatitis 62 (17) 29 (24) 12 (24) 7 (13) 14 (10) Nasal Polyposis 59 (16) 13 (11) 12 (24) 15 (29) 19 (14) Allergic Rhinitis 169 (47) 52 (43) 32 (64) 34 (65) 51 (38) Exacerbations † 2+ exacerbations in past year 136 (38) 65 (54) 14 (28) 14 (27) 43 (32) 3+ exacerbations in past year 69 (19) 37 (31) 8 (16) 5 (10) 19 (14) 4+ exacerbations in past year 33 (9) 19 (16) 2 (4) 2 (4) 10 (7) OCS use Chronic 55 (15) 14 (12) 5 (10) 9 (17) 27 (20) *Biomarker data was not reported due to limited availability of the data †Direct question to physicians