Asthma care pathway

Introduction: Asthme & Allergies Helpline regularly receives asthma patients’ testimonies describing problems in their care pathway. Asthme & Allergies decided to carry out a survey to verify the information and to collect patients quotes. Method: A 10 question questionnaire self-administered via Survey Monkey was proposed to patients on Asthme & Allergies website between 29/05 & 7/07/2017 Results: 246 answers were collected. 79.7% of respondents are women. 32.9% are under 30, 45.9% between 31 and 50, and 21.2% over 50 years old. 65% report a follow-up by a GP, 34% by a pulmonologist in private practice, 29% by a hospital pulmonologist, 26% by an allergist. The frequency of visits is every 3 months for 32.5%, twice a year for 25.6%, once a year for 21.1%, every month for 10.1%. 79.3% got lung function tests and 78.9% allergy tests. 49.6% received an emergency action plan. 44.9% were hospitalized for their asthma, and only 51% of them left hospital with an appointment with a pulmonologist. Medical follow-up for asthma is considered as non-existent for 9.7%, insufficient for 29.54%, correct for 32.07%, satisfactory for 18.57%, very satisfactory for 10.13% Conclusion: The quotes show that respondents are mainly people with severe asthma, which explains the high rate of lung function & allergy tests and hospitalizations. Patients express their difficulty in getting a diagnosis, they specify that the appointment with a pulmonologist was often taken at their own initiative, and the delays for an appointment are too long. They also say that asthma is not taken seriously enough. This survey drew our attention on the need to develop adapted tools to optimize diagnosis, patient pathway and access to specialists.