PP9 EXPLORING THE LINK BETWEEN ASTHMA TRIGGERS AND CONTROL : EXPERIENCES FROM A TERTIARY CENTRE IN PENANG, MALAYSIA

Deepa Priya Naidu Subramaniam1, Nor Syamimi Mohd Isa1, Sumithra Appava1, Jaya Muneswarao Ramadoo2,
Kartiiben Nagarajan1, Siti Norwahida Azami1, Goon Ai Khiang1, Umadevi A. Muthukumaru1, Lalitha
Pereirasamy1, Irfhan Ali Hyder Ali1
1 Respiratory Department, Hospital Pulau Pinang, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
2 Pharmacy Department, Hospital Pulau Pinang, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

INTRODUCTION:

Asthma affects 339 million people worldwide1, with Malaysia's adult prevalence at 6.3%. The Malaysian National Health and Morbidity Survey reports that 20% of adult asthmatics visit the emergency department annually2. Despite treatment guidelines, trigger-induced poor asthma control persists.

OBJECTIVE:

We aim to assess the prevalence of common triggers, their impact on asthma control, and patients' knowledge of managing them.

METHODOLOGY:

A cross-sectional study conducted at Respiratory Clinic Hospital Pulau Pinang from December 2023 to March 2024 employed face-to-face interviews and clinical biomarker analysis. It included asthma patients with confirmed diagnoses who reported at least one trigger. Asthma control was evaluated using the Asthma Control Test (ACT) scoring in accordance with the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines.

RESULTS:

This study comprises 112 patients aged 20 to 88 years, with 73.2% being female. The majority were of Malay ethnicity (45.5%), non-smokers(98.2%), and received step 4 or 5 GINA asthma treatments. Common triggers included household dust (56.6%), cold weather(54.9%), and smoke(34.5%), with 50% of the patients reporting three or more triggers. Most patients (88.4%) used appropriate prevention techniques, and 95.5% perceived a reduction in risk of exacerbation. Objectively, 80.4% of patients had well-controlled asthma (ACT score ≥ 20), and 87.5% experienced no exacerbation requiring emergency department visits in the past 12 months.

CONCLUSION:

Our study revealed that patients had well-controlled asthma despite facing high trigger burdens, which contrasts with results from similar studies3. This highlights the importance of educating patients on trigger management to improve outcomes, particularly for individuals with poorly controlled asthma.