RESEARCH ARTICLE


The Life's Limitations of Uncontrolled Asthma in a Developing Country: Results of an Albanian Survey



Fatmira Xhixha#, 1, Enkeleda Gjata#, 2, Mirela Hitaj3, Alketa Hysni Bakiri4, Entela Hyso5, Alkerta Ibranji6, Kastriot Shytaj7, Arben Ndreu8, Bashkim Resuli9, Ervin Cerciz Mingomataj*, 6, 7
1 Specialties Policlinic No 3, Allergology Visiting Room, Tirana, Albania
2 District Hospital, Allergology Visiting Room, Lushnja, Albania
3 Specialties Policlinic No 1, Allergology Visiting Room, Tirana, Albania
4 Albanian University, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Department of Preclinical Disciplines, Tirana, Albania
5 Regional Hospital, Allergology Visiting Room, Vlora, Albania
6 "Mother Theresa" School of Medicine, Department of Allergology & Clinical Immunology, Tirana, Albania
7 University of Tirana, Faculty of Technical Medical Sciences, Department of Preclinical Disciplines, Tirana, Albania>
8 "Mother Theresa" School of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Tirana, Albania
9 "Mother Theresa" School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tirana, Albania

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2013
Volume: 6
First Page: 1
Last Page: 8
Publisher Id: TOALLJ-6-1
DOI: 10.2174/1874838401306010001

Article History:

Received Date: 29/12/2012
Revision Received Date: 29/1/2013
Acceptance Date: 29/1/2013
Electronic publication date: 18/3/2013
Collection year: 2013

© 2013 Xhixha et al;

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the “Mother Theresa” School of Medicine, Department of Allergology & Clinical Immunology, Tirana, Albania; Tel: ++35542427010; Fax: ++35542229203; E-mail: allergology@gmx.de
# Both authors contributed equally to this work


Abstract

Introduction:

Studies conducted across Western Europe reported that bronchial asthma (BA) has an important impact on patients' lives quality. We present Albanian asthmatic patients’ views based on the questionnaire generated from the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Associations (EFA).

Materials and methodology:

In this study participated 145 Caucasian patients consecutively and prospectively diagnosed with BA.

Results:

The vast majority of patients reported lifestyle' limitations because of uncontrolled BA, three-fourth of them reported restriction of physical activity, and 20% felt their professional perspectives were limited. Additionally, up to 80% of the subjects were not optimistic about achieving the guideline goals but they were optimistic regarding the availability of more qualitative medicines and improvement of healthcare level over the next years. Our patients indicated that optimal treatments should be fast-acting and long-lasting, should be working immediately and should stop the symptoms completely.

Conclusions:

These results demonstrate the high impact of uncontrolled asthma, despite its severity, on .patients’ lives in a developing country.

Keywords: Bronchial asthma, EFA-questionnaire, views of Albanian patients.