Evaluation of 3-5 months' add-on therapy with montelukast in patients with non-controlled asthma in Austria: the STAR open-label, real-world, observational study.

Objective: To assess the current state of asthma management in Austria and evaluate improvement of symptoms and quality of life (QoL) in asthma patients by adding the controller substance montelukast to existing therapy.

Research Design And Methods: Office-based pneumologists across Austria were invited to participate in an open-label, multicenter observational study. Male and female patients aged from 12-50 years with mild or moderate persistent asthma according to GINA guidelines and FEV(1) > 70% predicted were included if they were on concurrent asthma treatment, but still had persistent symptoms and reduced quality of life.

Spirometric reference values for white European children and adolescents: Polgar revisited.

We analyzed six spirometric data sets collected in the Netherlands, Austria, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy. The objectives were to establish whether (1) it was possible to describe spirometric indices from childhood to adulthood, taking into account the adolescent growth spurt, and (2) there are systematic differences in ventilatory function between children and adolescents in different parts of Western Europe. The study comprised 2,269 girls and 3,592 boys, aged 6-21 years.