The impact of comorbidities on productivity loss in asthma patients.

Background: Health-related productivity loss is an important, yet overlooked, component of the economic burden of disease in asthma patients of a working age. We aimed at evaluating the effect of comorbidities on productivity loss among adult asthma patients.

Methods: In a random sample of employed adults with asthma, we measured comorbidities using a validated self-administered comorbidity questionnaire (SCQ), as well as productivity loss, including absenteeism and presenteeism, using validated instruments.

The added effect of comorbidity on health-related quality of life in patients with asthma.

Purpose: To examine the effect of comorbidities on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and their interaction with asthma control.

Methods: In a random sample of adults with asthma, we measured generic (EQ5D) and disease-specific (AQ5D) utility scores. Asthma symptom control was determined using the 2014 Global Initiative for Asthma Management Strategy.

Interaction effect of psychological distress and asthma control on productivity loss?

Little is known about the potential synergistic effect of comorbid psychological distress (PD) and uncontrolled asthma (UA) on productivity loss. We estimated the productivity loss associated with the combination of these two potentially preventable conditions in employed adults with asthma. A population-based random sample of 300 adults with asthma in British Columbia, Canada, was prospectively recruited between Dec 2010 and Aug 2012.

The preventable burden of productivity loss due to suboptimal asthma control: a population-based study.

Background: Productivity loss is an overlooked aspect of the burden of chronic health conditions. While modern guidelines emphasize achieving clinical control in asthma management, few studies have reported on the relationship between asthma control and productivity loss. We calculated the productivity loss that can be avoided by achieving and maintaining clinical control in employed adults with asthma.

Complementary and alternative asthma treatments and their association with asthma control: a population-based study.

Objectives: Many patients with asthma spend time and resources consuming complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs). This study explores whether CAM utilisation is associated with asthma control and the intake of asthma controller medications.

Design: Population-based, prospective cross-sectional study.

Atopic dermatitis in a high-risk cohort: natural history, associated allergic outcomes, and risk factors.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is commonly associated with asthma and other atopic disorders in childhood.

Objective: To evaluate the natural history of AD and its association with other allergic outcomes in a high-risk cohort through the age of 7 years.

Methods: A total of 373 high-risk infants, who had undergone a randomized controlled trial with intervention measures for primary prevention of asthma applied during the first year of life, were assessed for asthma, AD, and allergic sensitization at 1, 2, and 7 years.

Association between endotoxin and mite allergen exposure with asthma and specific sensitization at age 7 in high-risk children.

The role of endotoxin and house dust mite allergen (HDM) in allergen sensitization and asthma is unclear. The timeframe of exposure and asthma assessment appears critical. We aimed to determine, in children at 7 yr of age, the association between current exposure to endotoxin and HDM and risks of recurrent wheeze, paediatric allergist diagnosed asthma and allergen sensitization.

The effects of fluticasone with or without salmeterol on systemic biomarkers of inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Rationale: Small studies have suggested that inhaled corticosteroids can suppress systemic inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Objectives: To determine the effect of inhaled corticosteroids with or without long-acting beta(2)-adrenergic agonist on systemic biomarkers of inflammation.

Methods: We conducted a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial across 11 centers (n = 289 patients with FEV(1) of 47.

Can inhaled fluticasone alone or in combination with salmeterol reduce systemic inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial [NCT00120978].

Background: Systemic inflammation is associated with various complications in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease including weight loss, cachexia, osteoporosis, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Inhaled corticosteroids attenuate airway inflammation, reduce exacerbations, and improve mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Whether inhaled corticosteroids by themselves or in combination with a long-acting beta2-adrenoceptor agonist repress systemic inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is unknown.

The Canadian Childhood Asthma Primary Prevention Study: outcomes at 7 years of age.

Background: Avoidance of any one of the individual risk factors associated with childhood asthma has not been successful in preventing its development.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention program for the primary prevention of asthma in high-risk infants at 7 years of age.

Methods: Five hundred forty-five high-risk infants with an immediate family history of asthma and allergies were prospectively randomized into intervention or control groups prenatally.

Excess of symptoms among radiographers.

Background: The prevalence and occupational determinants of miscellaneous symptoms referred to as "Darkroom disease" was compared between radiographers and physiotherapists working in British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: The participation rate for the mailout questionnaire survey was 66.1%.