Department of Medical Sciences, Respiratory, Allergy and Sleep Research, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Allergy Centre, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland; Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland; Krefting Research Centre, Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Respiratory Medicine, Seinäjoki Central Hospital, Seinäjoki, Finland.
Respiratory Research Unit, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital – Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Thoracic Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Quantify Research, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sanofi, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Novartis Finland, Espoo, Finland.
Novartis Norway, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Pulmonology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia; Lung Clinic, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.
Division of Medicine, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland; Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Clinical Allergology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Division of Medicine, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland; Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Clinical Allergology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Landspitali University Hospital and University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Heart and Lung Center, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Respiratory Research Unit, Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Thoracic Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, and Audiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Medicine (MedH), Lung and Allergy Research Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Allergy Center, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Allergy Centre, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland; Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Medicine (MedH), Lung and Allergy Research Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden; Division of Lung and Airway Research, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Respiratory Research Unit, Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Background: Real-life evidence on prevalence and management of severe asthma is limited. Nationwide population registries across the Nordic countries provide unique opportunities to describe prevalence and management patterns of severe asthma at population level. In nationwide register data from Sweden, Norway and Finland, we examined the prevalence of severe asthma and the proportion of severe asthma patients being managed in specialist care.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on the Nordic Dataset for Asthma Research (NORDSTAR) research collaboration platform. We identified patients with severe asthma in adults (aged ≥18 years) and in children (aged 6-17 years) in 2018 according to the European Respiratory Society/American Thoracic Society definition. Patients managed in specialist care were those with an asthma-related specialist outpatient contact (only available in Sweden and Finland).
Results: Overall, we identified 598 242 patients with current asthma in Sweden, Norway and Finland in 2018. Among those, the prevalence of severe asthma was 3.5%, 5.4% and 5.2% in adults and 0.4%, 1.0%, and 0.3% in children in Sweden, Norway and Finland, respectively. In Sweden and Finland, 37% and 40% of adult patients with severe asthma and two or more exacerbations, respectively, were managed in specialist care; in children the numbers were 56% and 41%, respectively.
Conclusion: In three Nordic countries, population-based nationwide data demonstrated similar prevalence of severe asthma. In children, severe asthma was a rare condition. Notably, a large proportion of patients with severe asthma were not managed by a respiratory specialist, suggesting the need for increased recognition of severe asthma in primary care.
European Respiratory Society (ERS) , 2023. Vol. 9, nr 2, artikel-id 00687-2022