Comorbid allergy and rhinitis and patient-related outcomes in asthma and COPD: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: The study aimed to compare prevalence of comorbid allergic manifestations and rhinitis, allergy testing and associations with patient-related outcomes in patients with asthma and COPD.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of randomly selected Swedish patients with a doctor's diagnosis of asthma ( = 1291) or COPD ( = 1329). Self-completion questionnaires from 2014 provided data on demographics, rhinitis, allergic symptoms at exposure to pollen or furry pets, exacerbations, self-assessed severity of disease and scores from the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and the COPD Assessment Test (CAT), and records were reviewed for allergy tests.

Risk Factors Associated with Asthma Control and Quality of Life in Patients with Mild Asthma Without Preventer Treatment, a Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: To study risk factors for uncontrolled asthma and insufficient quality of life (QoL) in patients with mild asthma, ie those without preventer treatment.

Patients And Methods: Patients aged 18-75 years with a doctor's diagnosis of asthma randomly selected from primary and secondary care in Sweden. Mild asthma was defined as self-reported current asthma and no preventer treatment.

Primary care patients with mild or stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease need more support in disease management: a secondary analysis of a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Patient education based on the patient's individual needs and circumstances is known to be associated with positive changes in clinical outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We aimed to assess the levels of patients' subjective needs for information about COPD before and after their general practitioners had taken part in a COPD education.

Design: A secondary analysis of a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Pharmacological treatment of asthma in Sweden from 2005 to 2015.

Objective: Despite access to effective therapies many asthma patients still do not have well-controlled disease. This is possibly related to underuse of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and overuse of short-acting β2-agonists (SABA). Our aim was to investigate longitudinal trends and associated factors in asthma treatment.

High use of short-acting β-agonists in COPD is associated with an increased risk of exacerbations and mortality.

Background: Short-acting β-agonist (SABA) overuse has been associated with an increased risk of exacerbations in asthma; however, less is known about SABA use in COPD. Our aim was to describe SABA use and investigate potential associations between high SABA use and the risk of future exacerbations and mortality in COPD.

Methods: This observational study identified COPD patients in primary care medical records in Sweden.

Factors Associated with the Non-Exacerbator Phenotype of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and no exacerbations may need less maintenance treatment and follow-up. The aim was to identify factors associated with a non-exacerbator COPD phenotype.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 1354 patients from primary and secondary care, with a doctor's diagnosis of COPD.

Comorbid Heart Disease in Patients with COPD is Associated with Increased Hospitalization and Mortality - A 15-Year Follow-Up.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the association of comorbid heart disease, defined as chronic heart failure or ischemic heart disease, on all-cause and cause-specific hospitalization and mortality in patients with COPD over a period of nearly 15 years.

Materials And Methods: The cohort study included patients with COPD from primary and secondary care in 2005 with data from questionnaires and medical record reviews. The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare provided hospitalization and mortality data from 2005 through 2019.

Does multimorbidity result in de-prioritisation of COPD in primary care?

The aim of this study was to describe factors associated with having COPD regularly reviewed in primary care by a nurse or physician and assess whether there was de-prioritisation for COPD in multimorbid patients. We defined de-prioritisation as not having at least one check-up by a physician during a two-year period. Among 713 COPD patients in the Swedish PRAXIS study, 473 (66%) had at least one check-up during the study period (ending in 2014).

Remote consultations in primary care across low-, middle- and high-income countries: Implications for policy and care delivery.

The COVID-19 pandemic mandated a substantial switch in primary health care delivery from an in-person to a mainly remote telephone or video service. As the COVID-19 pandemic approaches its third year, limited progress appears to have been made in terms of policy development around consultation methods for the post-acute phase of the pandemic. In September 2020, the International Primary Care Respiratory Group convened a global panel of primary care clinicians - including family physicians, paediatricians, pharmacists, academics and patients - to consider the policy and health management implications of the move to remote consultations in the primary care setting.

Lack of COPD-Related Follow-Up Visits and Pharmacological Treatment in Swedish Primary and Secondary Care.

Objective: The Swedish guidelines recommend that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on maintenance treatment are monitored annually, and within six weeks after an exacerbation. We describe the patterns of COPD-related visits in Sweden, both regular follow-up and post-exacerbation visits.

Methods: Patients (>40 years) with a first-time COPD diagnosis between 2006 and 2017 were identified in primary care medical records and linked to hospital contacts and administered drug data.

One additional educational session in inhaler use to patients with COPD in primary health care - A controlled clinical trial.

Objective: To investigate whether one additional educational session about inhaler use, delivered to patients with COPD in primary healthcare, could affect the patients' skills in inhaler use. Specifically, to study the effects on errors related to handling the device, to inhalation technique, and to both.

Methods: This nonrandomized controlled clinical trial included 64 patients who used devices and made errors.

Biomarkers, Clinical Course, and Individual Needs in COPD Patients in Primary Care: The Study Protocol of the Stockholm COPD Inflammation Cohort (SCOPIC).

Background: To facilitate effective personalized medicine, primary health care needs better methods of assessing and monitoring chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Aim: This cohort study aims to investigate how biomarkers relate to clinical characteristics and COPD patients' subjective needs over time.

Methods: Patients (n=750) in different COPD severity according to the GOLD criteria and age- and sex-matched controls (n=750) will be recruited over a period of 5 years from 15 primary health care centers in Region Stockholm, Sweden, and followed for 10 years in the first instance.

Annual and Post-Exacerbation Follow-Up of Asthma Patients in Clinical Practice - A Large Population-Based Study in Sweden.

Background: Symptom control has not improved in Swedish asthma patients during the last two decades. Guidelines recommend annual reviews for asthma patients treated with maintenance inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). We aimed to describe how visit patterns in an ICS-treated asthma population in Sweden were related to applicable asthma guidelines.

[Pharmacological treatment reduces mortality in COPD].

Approximately 500 000 individuals in Sweden have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Co-morbid, especially cardiovascular, conditions are common in COPD and globally COPD is the third most common cause of mortality. Mortality in COPD is driven by dyspnea, exacerbations and comorbidities and is reduced by smoking cessation and lung rehabilitation.

COPD - do the right thing.

A gap exists between guidelines and real-world clinical practice for the management and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although this has narrowed in the last decade, there is room for improvement in detection rates, treatment choices and disease monitoring. In practical terms, primary care practitioners need to become aware of the huge impact of COPD on patients, have non-judgemental views of smoking and of COPD as a chronic disease, use a holistic consultation approach and actively motivate patients to adhere to treatment.

Quality of life and asthma control related to hormonal transitions in women's lives.

Objectives: The aim was to investigate if menstruation and use of exogenous sex hormones influence self-reported asthma related quality of life (QoL) and asthma control.

Methods: The study is based on two asthma cohorts randomly selected in primary and secondary care. A total of 622 female patients 18-65 years were included and classified as premenopausal ≤ 46 years ( = 338) and peri/postmenopausal 47-65 years ( = 284).

Factors associated with self-assessed asthma severity.

Background: Asthma severity can be estimated as the level of medication needed to achieve asthma control or by the patient's subjective assessment. Factors associated with self-assessed asthma severity are still incompletely explored.

Aim: The aim was to study factors associated with self-assessed moderate or severe asthma.

Patient outcomes following GPs' educations about COPD: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

This study aimed to compare patient outcomes following case method learning and traditional lectures as methods for continuing medical education (CME) about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for general practitioners (GPs) in Sweden. In a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial, COPD patients (n = 425; case method group n = 209, traditional lectures group n = 216) from 24 primary health care centers replied to questionnaires prior to and 18 months after a 2 × 2-h CME was given to GPs (n = 255). We measured changes in the scores of the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), symptoms, needs for disease information, exacerbations, smoking, and use of pulmonary rehabilitation.

Data-driven questionnaire-based cluster analysis of asthma in Swedish adults.

The aim of this study was to identify asthma phenotypes through cluster analysis. Cluster analysis was performed using self-reported characteristics from a cohort of 1291 Swedish asthma patients. Disease burden was measured using the Asthma Control Test (ACT), the mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (mini-AQLQ), exacerbation frequency and asthma severity.

Improved quality of care by using the PRISMS form to support self-management in patients with COPD: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Aims And Objective: To investigate the effects on the quality of care of the Patient Report Informing Self-Management Support (PRISMS) form compared with usual care among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) consulting a COPD nurse in primary health care.

Background: Patients with COPD experience symptoms affecting their everyday lives, and there is a need for interventions in self-management support. The delivery of chronic care in an organised, structured and planned manner can lead to more productive relationships between professionals and patients.

COPD patients need more information about self-management: a cross-sectional study in Swedish primary care.

In Sweden, patients with chronic conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), often receive education at specialized nurse-led clinics at primary health care centers (PHCCs). Identifying patients' needs for information about COPD is the key to individualized care. This study aimed to assess self-reported needs for information about COPD in primary care patients with either moderate (GOLD 2) or severe (GOLD 3) COPD and identify patient characteristics and exacerbation patterns associated with the findings.

Errors in inhaler use related to devices and to inhalation technique among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary health care.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe inhaler use in primary health care patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to categorize these patients into those making errors related to devices, those making errors related to inhalation technique and those making errors related to both.

Design: Observational study.

Methods: COPD nurses used a checklist to assess the use of inhalers by patients with spirometry-verified COPD ( = 183) from primary healthcare centres.