ABSTRACT

Asthma, as chronic inflammatory disease, shows variations in clinical manifestations and the degree of airflow obstruction, so its severity may change over time in the same patient. The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) established a practical system of classification, considering clinical and functional aspects as frequency of diurnal and nocturnal respiratory symptoms and lung function, their combination allows for classifying asthma severity as intermittent and persistent (mild, moderate and severe). Recently, it has been proposed to classify the asthma according to degree of control: controlled, partly controlled and uncontrolled. The parameters used in this system are: frequency of diurnal and nocturnal respiratory symptoms, activity limitation, use of rescue therapy, determining the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) or peak expiratory flow (PEF) and the exacerbations. The patient’s participation on the asthma classification has also been considered through the self application of asthma control questionnaire (ACT). Patients with high risk of death are classified in the group of difficult asthma control (ADC), requiring major and minor criteria to define it; the common denominator is the decontrol of the disease, high dose steroids and appropriate treatment previously established. Sort asthma with any of these systems, information about its impact on the patient’s life and thus establish the recommended treatment schedule for each patient group.

KEYWORDS

Asthma classification, control, difficult control, severity.

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