AIM survey reveals important insights about asthma and the current state of asthma management in the United States

Asthma continues to have a significant impact on health in the United States. Asthma Insight and Management (AIM), the largest national survey of asthma in the United States conducted in the past decade, reveals numerous unmet needs with regard to the current state of asthma care in the United States.

• Compared with the general population of adults ≥18 years of age without asthma, patients with asthma have poorer general health, experience emotional burdens, have greater activity limitations, and have more than twice as many sick and disability days
• Asthma patients experience moderately to extremely bothersome symptoms and they also report episodes when their asthma symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, or shortness of breath are more frequent or severe than normal, most commonly lasting a number of days in the past year
• One-third of asthma patients surveyed report that they have experienced episodes requiring acute care, including hospitalizations and emergency room visits in the past 12 months
• Asthma patients have low expectations for asthma control and tend to overestimate the level of asthma control that they are achieving
• Despite recognizing that maintenance medication for asthma should be used every day, nonadherence to therapy is common among asthma patients
• Healthcare providers generally have higher expectations for asthma management than patients and they often use terms that patients are unfamiliar with, such as exacerbations
• Despite improved understanding of asthma as an inflammatory disease and the importance of using maintenance therapy for persistent disease, there have been limited improvements, but improvements nonetheless, in activity limitations, missed school/work days, and number of emergency visits in the US asthma population surveyed in the past decade

The results of this survey indicate a need for both asthma patients and their healthcare providers to work together to achieve improved asthma control.

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