Asthma impacts on workplace productivity in employed patients who are symptomatic despite background therapy: a multinational survey

 

Asthma is often a challenging condition for patients to live with and for physicians to manage, impacting many different aspects of patients’ lives. A new study published in the Journal of Asthma and Allergy ‘Asthma impacts on workplace productivity in employed patients who are symptomatic despite background therapy: a multinational survey’, examines the impact of symptomatic asthma in the workplace.

The survey was completed by adults in employment in the UK, Spain, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Germany. The survey revealed that of the 2,055 patients screened on long-term maintenance therapy, 1,598 were symptomatic and completed the survey.

The study looks at the consequences of symptomatic asthma in the workplace, such as missed work hours, sickness leave, impact on productivity in addition to how asthma makes participants feel whilst they are at work. Symptoms such as tiredness, weakness and mental strain were identified as significant challenges for participants, in addition to ‘describing concerns about the perception of colleagues and feelings of inferiority’.

The paper also presents strategies to improve the lives of asthma patients such as asthma education, optimizing asthma management plans and running workplace well-being programs.

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_{Keywords: asthma workplace asthma and allergy symptomatic asthma workplace productivity}