Study: A Third of Adults With Asthma Could Be Misdiagnosed

A recent study found that 33.1% of adults with physician-diagnosed asthma were misdiagnosed.

The study was conducted in 10 Canadian cities from January 2012 to February 2016, and included 701 participants diagnosed with asthma by a physician in the past 5 years. Researchers examined information from the diagnosing physician to determine how the original diagnosis of asthma was made.
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Participants were assessed with home peak flow and symptom monitoring, spirometry, and serial bronchial challenge tests. In addition, participants on daily medication had their medications gradually tapered off over the 4 study visits. A bronchial challenge test was administered in participants who had an asthma diagnosis ruled out by the study during a 1 year follow-up.

Overall, asthma was ruled out in 203 of 613 participants who completed the study, and 12 participants had serious cardiorespiratory conditions misdiagnosed as asthma.

In the 12-month follow-up, researchers found that 181 participants (29.5%) did not exhibit clinical or laboratory evidence of asthma. Participants who had asthma ruled out were less likely to complete testing for airflow limitation during the initial diagnosis in the community than participants with confirmed asthma.

“Among adults with physician-diagnosed asthma, a current diagnosis of asthma could not be established in 33.1% who were not using daily asthma medications or had medications weaned. In patients such as these, reassessing the asthma diagnosis may be warranted,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Aaron SD, Vandemheen KL, FitGerald JM, et al. Reevaluation of diagnosis in adults with physician-diagnosed asthma [published online January 17, 2017]. JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.19627.