Patient and physician evaluation of the severity of acute asthma exacerbations.

We studied the ability of patients not experienced in the use of peak expiratory flow meters to assess the severity of their asthma exacerbations and compared it to the assessment of experienced clinicians. We also evaluated which data of physical examination and medical history are used by physicians to subjectively evaluate the severity of asthma attacks. Fifty-seven adult patients (15 men and 42 women, with a mean (+/- SD) age of 37.

Exercise-induced bronchospasm in children: comparison of FEV1 and FEF25-75% responses.

The response of asthmatic children to exercise has usually been evaluated by forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV(1)). We reasoned that other respiratory indexes derived from the forced vital capacity maneuver such as forced expiratory flow between 25-75% of vital capacity (FEF(25-75%)) would add significant information in the evaluation of the relationship between asthma severity and response to exercise. We studied 164 children with intermittent (n = 63), mild persistent (n = 30), moderate persistent (n = 40), and severe persistent asthma (n = 31).

Exercise-induced bronchospasm in children: effects of asthma severity.

The prevalence of exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) in asthmatic individuals has been reported to vary from 40% to 90%. There are, however, few studies addressing the effects of asthma severity on airway responsiveness to exercise. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of asthma severity on EIB in children.