Closing the Gap: Bridging Patient Perception and Reality in Asthma Management

Working in the field of Respiratory Therapy, one of the most important tasks to set a patient up for success is education about their disease process. Having the confidence and knowledge about your disease will lead to better management and control.

 According to recent data from Blue Charm, 96% of patients perceive their asthma was well or partially controlled:  

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However, upon completing the ACT (Asthma Control Test), results determined that 81.07% of asthma patients are experiencing symptoms of uncontrolled asthma. 

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Given this statistic, it is evident that patient perception versus reality has a severe disconnect. This shows that patients are not aware how to properly evaluate their disease and are unaware that their asthma is uncontrolled. This poses an issue because it means that patients are also unaware that they need to seek help from their healthcare professional and/or gain access to other resources on how to better manage their asthma. Gaining better control of their asthma can be done through new medication, being more aware of symptoms, and discovering ways to avoid potential triggers.