Asthma Patients and Their Doctors Don't Always Communicate Well

Survey finds disconnect between what each believes defines adequate control of symptoms.

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
Friday, April 6, 2007; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

FRIDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- People with asthma and their doctors often don't communicate effectively, and that disconnect may lead to poorly controlled asthma and an unnecessary worsening of quality of life, a recent survey found.

The biggest reason for this communication breakdown is that doctors and patients look at asthma in completely different ways, said Mike Tringale, director of external affairs for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which conducted the survey.

Doctors tend to look at the quantitative factors, such as how often you or your child needs a rescue inhaler or what are peak flow readings, while people with asthma or their parents tend to look more at qualitative factors, such as how well did you sleep or how did you feel in school?

"It's not that anybody's saying the wrong thing, but nobody's talking about the whole story," Tringale said.

As an example of the way these factors could easily be misunderstood, Dr. Jonathan Field, director of the allergy and asthma clinic at the New York University Medical Center/Bellevue in New York City, recalled a marathon-runner patient who complained that his asthma wasn't under control. When Field ran the standard tests, the runner appeared to have well-functioning lungs, with 100 percent of the expected lung function.

However, Field decided to treat the patient based on his symptoms, and because the patient felt there had been a worsening of his asthma. After treatment, the runner's lung function tests were at 150 percent of what the average is, said Field. Because he was a runner, his baseline lung function was much higher than normal -- a factor that could easily have been missed, depending on what questions the doctor asked and what information the patient volunteered.

The AAFA's survey included 354 physicians -- 254 primary-care doctors and 100 pediatricians -- and 585 people with asthma and 274 adult mothers of children under 18 with asthma.

The survey found that both doctors and people with asthma agreed that they should work as partners to control the condition.