Need for patient’s education: asthmatics perception of asthma as a lung disease

<b>Introduction:</b> Asthma has a variety of respiratory symptoms, changing over time and in intensity, with variable airflow limitation. Despite that, many patients do not recognize asthma as a lung disease and some report that they ignore it in order to feel normal and accepted. <b>Objective:</b> to study patient’s perception of asthma as a lung disease. <b>Methods:</b> A cross-sectional, non-interventional study was performed to evaluate data of all individuals who performed spirometry and answered a standardized respiratory symptoms questionnaire, from October 2017 to March 2020 at an University Hospital. Only the data from subjects who answered they had no lung disease were evaluated. Their answers for asthma diagnosis and respiratory symptoms (wheeze, shortness of breath, cough, sputum) and treatments were analyzed and compared. <b>Results:</b> 1073 subjects were included, 152 were excluded due to inconsistent data and 921 subjects were analyzed. 467 (50,7%) subjects denied any lung disease, but 167 (18,1%) of them also said they had asthma. These patients had significantly more cough (55,1%), wheeze (47,9%), used more inhaled medication (68,8%) and had worse lung function (pre bronchodilatador FEV1) than subjects who denied both any lung disease and asthma. <b>Conclusion:</b> 18,1% of the patients who denied having any lung disease also confirmed an asthma diagnosis at the same time. Those subjects had significantly more respiratory symptoms and used more inhaled medication compared to those without asthma.&nbsp;There is a need for patient´s education in asthma, since the lack of its recognition as a chronic lung disease might contribute to less adherence to the treatment, a greater risk of exacerbations and even mortality.