Asthma Patients and Their Doctors Don't Always Communicate Well

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But, they seemed to agree on little else. Here are some of the highlights of the areas where doctors and people with asthma need to work to improve communication, the survey found:

• Just 40 percent of doctors felt their patients were "very good" or "good" at controlling their asthma, while 77 percent of patients felt their asthma was in control.
• Ninety percent of doctors, but just 39 percent of people with asthma, felt that asthmatics don't always take their medications properly and could do a better job of controlling their asthma.
• Only 11 percent of people with asthma felt their doctors had discussed the meaning of asthma control with them, yet 80 percent of doctors felt they had done so.
• The No. 1 factor indicating poorly controlled asthma was the number of times a patient needed a fast-acting inhaler, according to 89 percent of the doctors. For patients, the No. 1 indication of poor control was quality-of-life issues.

Field said the survey "underscores a lot of important issues," particularly in the different ways -- qualitative and quantitative -- that people with asthma and their doctors view the disease.

"Patients may say they're fine. They're conditioned to think this is the way it is. They assume it's their lot in life," said Field. But, if you ask the right questions, he added, you might find out that a patient isn't fine. They may be feeling tired all day or have stopped going to the gym, but they've decided that's normal, even when it's not.

"All asthma is controllable, but not all asthma is controlled," said Tringale. "Patients need a higher expectation of control. Often, asthma patients just learn to live with their symptoms. There should be no asthma attacks. More than 4,000 people still die from asthma each year, and they're not just severe asthmatics. The deaths are equally distributed between mild, moderate and severe asthmatics. Asthma should be in control. There's just not enough questioning going on."

To help people with asthma and their doctors bridge the communication gap, the AAFA, with funding from Merck & Co. -- an asthma medication manufacturer -- have started a new education program called, Get A.H.E.A.D. of Asthma, which explains what good asthma control is and how to improve your health.