Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is an independent risk factor for severe adult-onset asthma, suggests a new study published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine.¹ Male sex, smoking, comorbidities and the number of siblings were identified as other risk factors.

The study used data from Adult Asthma in Finland, a 1997 population-based, matched case-control study of 1350 participants with severe asthma, who were aged ≥30 years. Asthmatic patients had self-reported onset of asthma symptoms and/or an asthma diagnosis after 15 years of age.

For this study, severe asthma was defined as self-reported asthma and symptoms that caused regular impairment and harm plus either the need for at least one course of oral steroids every year, regular oral use of steroids or waking up during the night due to symptoms a few times a month. One hundred patients with self-reported severe asthma were included in the study.

The prevalence of severe asthma was 7.4% in patients with adult-onset asthma. Researchers identified five risk factors associated with self-reported severe asthma, which included male sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.96), ever smoking (OR 1.98), chronic comorbidities (OR 2.68), having ≥2 siblings (OR 2.51) and NSAID-exacerbated respiratory disease (OR 3.29). A dose-response effect of the total sum of these five factors on severe asthma was observed suggesting that these risk factors were cumulative, with each additional risk factor increasing the risk of self-reported asthma. No such association was noted for a self-reported history of severe childhood infection or allergic diseases.

According to the study authors, their study reiterates the need for quitting smoking and also emphasises the significance of early detection of risk factors and their timely management to prevent severe disease in patients with adult-onset asthma.

Reference

1. Toppila-Salmi S, et al. Risk factors for severe adult-onset asthma: a multi-factor approach. BMC Pulm Med. 2021 Jul 8;21(1):214.