Use of fractional exhaled nitric oxide to guide the treatment of asthma an official american thoracic society clinical practice guideline

Background: The fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) test is a point-of-care test that is used in the assessment of asthma.Objective: To provide evidence-based clinical guidance on whether FENO testing is indicated to optimize asthma treatment in patients with asthma in whom treatment is being considered.Methods: An international, multidisciplinary panel of experts was convened to form a consensus document regarding a single question relevant to the use of FENO. The question was selected from three potential questions based on the greatest perceived impact on clinical practice and the unmet need for evidencebased answers related to this question. The panel performed systematic reviews of published randomized controlled trials between 2004 and 2019 and followed the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence-to-decision framework to develop recommendations. All panel members evaluated and approved the recommendations.Main Results: After considering the overall low quality of the evidence, the panel made a conditional recommendation for FENO-based care. In patients with asthma in whom treatment is being considered, we suggest that FENO is beneficial and should be used in addition to usual care. This judgment is based on a balance of effects that probably favors the intervention; the moderate costs and availability of resources, which probably favors the intervention; and the perceived acceptability and feasibility of the intervention in daily practice.Conclusions: Clinicians should consider this recommendation to measure FENO in patients with asthma in whom treatment is being considered based on current best available evidence. </p

Geography, generalisability, and susceptibility in clinical trials

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Patient And phaRmacit Telephonic Encounters (PARTE) in an Underserved Rural Population with Asthma: Methods and Rationale

Purpose: Methods used to deliver and test a pharmacy-based asthma care telephonic service for an underserved, rural patient population are described. Summary: In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the Patient And phaRmacist Telephonic Encounters (PARTE) project is assessing the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact of providing pharmacy-based asthma care service telephonically. The target audience is a low income patient population across a large geographic area served by a federally qualified community health center. Ninety-eight participants have been randomized to either standard care or the intervention group who received consultation and direct feedback from pharmacists via telephone regarding their asthma self-management and medication use. Pharmacists used a counseling framework that incorporates the Indian Health Services 3 Prime Questions and the RIM Technique (Recognition, Identification, and Management) for managing medication use problems. Pharmacists encouraged patients to be active partners in the decision-making process to identify and address the underlying cause of medication use problems. Uniquely, this trial collected process and summative data using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pharmacists’ training, the fidelity and quality of pharmacists’ service delivery, and short term patient outcomes are being evaluated. This evaluation will improve our ability to address research challenges and intervention barriers, refine staff training, explore patient perspectives, and evaluate measures’ power to provide preliminary patient outcome findings. Conclusion: A mixed method evaluation of a structured pharmacist intervention has the potential to offer insights regarding staff training, service fidelity and short term outcomes using quantitative and qualitative data in an RCT. Results will provide evidence regarding the feasibility and quality of carrying out the study and service delivery from the multiple perspectives of participants, clinicians, and researchers

Obstruction phenotype as a predictor of asthma severity and instability in children

BACKGROUND: Small-airways instability resulting in premature airway closure has been recognized as a risk for asthma severity and poor control. Although spirometry has limited sensitivity for detecting small-airways dysfunction, a focus on the air-trapping component of obstruction might identify a risk factor for asthma instability. OBJECTIVE: We sought to use spirometric measurements to identify patterns of airway obstruction in children and define obstruction phenotypes that relate to asthma instability. METHODS: Prebronchodilation and postbronchodilation spirometric data were obtained from 560 children in the Asthma Phenotypes in the Inner City study. An air-trapping obstruction phenotype (A Trpg) was defined as a forced vital capacity (FVC) z score of less than -1.64 or an increase in FVC of 10% of predicted value or greater with bronchodilation. The airflow limitation phenotype (A Limit) had an FEV RESULTS: Patients with the A Trpg phenotype (14% of the cohort) had more exacerbations during the 12-month study compared with those with the A Limit (P \u3c .03) and None (P \u3c .001) phenotypes. Patients with the A Trpg phenotype also had the highest Composite Asthma Severity Index score, the highest asthma treatment step, the greatest variability in FEV CONCLUSIONS: A Trpg and A Limit patterns of obstruction, as defined by using routine spirometric measurements, can identify obstruction phenotypes that are indicators of risk for asthma severity and instability