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Asthma

Definition

This topic refers to persons ever told by a doctor or nurse that they have asthma, and whose asthma is current. Whether a person's asthma is current or not was determined by whether they had had any symptoms of asthma or taken treatment for asthma in the last 12 months.

Population

Information was obtained for all persons in the NHS.

Methodology

All respondents were asked whether they had ever been told by a doctor or nurse that they have asthma, and if so, whether symptoms were present, whether they had taken treatment in the last 12 months, and whether they still get asthma. Respondents who identified they had recent symptoms or treatment or still get asthma were asked:

• whether their asthma had been worse or out of control in the last 12 months and the number of times they had gone to a hospital or emergency department as a result
• whether they had a written asthma action plan
• whether they had been woken by asthma or wheezing in the last 4 weeks
• how often their asthma had interfered with daily activities in the last 4 weeks
• frequency took asthma medications in the last 2 weeks

• The estimates were based on persons who reported having been told by a doctor or nurse they had asthma, however, estimates may not agree with data from other sources using different approaches to the identification of asthma.
• If a person considered their asthma to be current but had not had recent symptoms or treatment, they are considered to not have current asthma (conditions status 3: ever told has condition, not current). If a person considered their asthma to not be current but had symptoms or treatment, they are considered to have current asthma (condition status 1: ever told has condition, still current and long-term).