Evaluating the effect of antidepressants on the relationship between depression and asthma.

Background: It is unclear if depression is associated with impaired lung function in subjects with asthma, while few studies evaluated the effect of antidepressants on the relationship between depression and asthma. We designed this study to investigate if subjects with concomitant asthma and depression not taking antidepressants have worse asthma outcomes compared to asthmatic subjects without depression, and to evaluate whether antidepressants modify this association.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study.

Comparing hospital admissions, comorbidities, and biomarkers between severe asthma and Gold III-IV chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Introduction: In spite of difficulties in differentiating asthma from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), physicians should strive for accurate diagnosis because outcomes may be different.

Objectives: Our aims were to compare the frequency of hospital admissions (HA) between severe asthmatic (SA) and Gold III-IV COPD subjects receiving disease-specific guideline recommended therapy and to depict the frequency of prevalent chronic disorders and the laboratorial profile suggesting allergic and eosinophilic phenotypes.

Methods: This cross-sectional study comprises one group of SA subjects and another group of Gold III-IV COPD subjects.

Hospital admission rate in children and adolescents with mild persistent asthma.

Introduction: The health and financial burden of mild-persistent asthma has been poorly investigated.

Objective: Our aim was to compare the rate of hospital admissions that have occurred during the preceding year between children and adolescents with current mild-persistent (MP) and moderate-severe (MS) asthma.

Methods: We screened children and adolescents with asthma at eight outpatient clinics.

Evaluating the FEV/FVC ratio in the lower range of normality as a marker of worse clinical outcomes in asthmatic subjects without airway obstruction.

Background: We should continually improve tools for evaluating asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the FEV/FVC ratio in the lower range of normality is associated with worse outcomes in asthmatics without airway obstruction.

Methods: We screened asthmatics at eight clinics.

Is a low level of education a limiting factor for asthma control in a population with access to pulmonologists and to treatment?

Objective: To determine whether a low level of education is a risk factor for uncontrolled asthma in a population of patients who have access to pulmonologists and to treatment.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving outpatients > 10 years of age diagnosed with asthma who were followed by a pulmonologist for at least 3 months in the city of Jundiai, located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The patients completed a questionnaire specifically designed for this study, the 6-item Asthma Control Questionnaire (to assess the control of asthma symptoms), and a questionnaire designed to assess treatment adherence.