Asthma Insight & Management
Taking AIM at Asthma: Conducting a Comprehensive Survey
The Asthma Insight and Management study (AIM) is the largest, most comprehensive national U.S. survey of asthma patients and caregivers since the late 1990s. Nearly 4,000 people 12 years and older were interviewed by telephone in the summer of 2009 to gain a complete picture of how Americans are dealing with asthma.
The survey cross section included:
- 2,500 current asthma patients 12 and older
- 1,090 adults (18 and older) selected at random to talk about their health. Of those
- 1,004 people didn't have current asthma
- 86 did have current asthma
The survey also included:
- 309 doctors, among them:
- 101 family practitioners
- 104 allergists
- 54 pulmonologists (lung doctors)
- 50 internal medicine doctors.
In all, 3,899 people
were contacted.
Asthma is a complex disease characterized typically by an underlying inflammation and narrowing or constriction of the airways. Symptoms of asthma include coughing, wheezing, breathlessness, and chest tightness. In asthma patients, the bronchial tubes overreact to allergens, irritants, and other triggers, which can include smoke, dust, exhaust, fragrances, and exercise.
For its prevalence among the population, many asthma patients do not understand what it means to have well controlled asthma. Many asthma patients think their disease is well controlled despite suffering a high burden of disease and experience bothersome symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath.
