Comparison of the effects of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary symptoms on health-related quality of life in patients with severe asthma.

Objectives: To survey the frequency of extra-pulmonary symptoms reported by a sample of patients with severe asthma, their contribution to quality of life and relationship to treatment pathways.

Methods: Consenting patients (N = 100) attending a severe asthma clinic completed questionnaire measures of extra-pulmonary symptoms (the General symptom Questionnaire, GSQ), pulmonary symptoms (Asthma Control Test, ACT), quality of life (the Severe Asthma Questionnaire, SAQ) and health status (EQ-5D-5L).

Results: A median of 21 extra-pulmonary symptoms were reported per week.

Evidence for similarity in symptoms and mechanism: The extra-pulmonary symptoms of severe asthma and the polysymptomatic presentation of fibromyalgia.

Background: Asthma is a disease of the lung and a systemic disease. Functional disorders are associated with multiple systemic abnormalities that have been explained by complexity models. The aim was to test the similarity in type and aetiology between the extra-pulmonary symptoms of severe asthma and the symptoms of fibromyalgia.