Angelica Tiotiu1, Nathalie Wirth1 and Yves Martinet1
1Department of Pulmonology, CHRU, Nancy, France

In asthmatics patients, tabacco smoking is associated with accelerated decline in pulmonary function, poor disease control and reduced responsiveness to corticosteroids.

Our objective was to compare asthma control efficiency in a population of asthmatic patients according to smoking status.

We compared 3 equal groups of 30 asthmatics patients: group 1 never smokers, group 2 former smokers and group 3 current smokers. We collected demographic, clinical data, hospital anxiety/depression (HAD) score, functional respiratory data and asthma control scores (ACQ6) for all patients.

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The three groups were identical in terms of demographical data (mean age 42 vs 46 vs 44.5 years) and lung function: FEV1=80.6%, FVC=94.07%, FEV1/FVC=0.72 in group 1, FEV1=80.9%, FVC=99.16%, FEV1/FVC=0.68 in group 2 and FEV1=79.21%, FVC=96.04%, FEV1/FVC=0.69 in group 3 (p=0.457). Anxiety defined by an HAD ≥8 was present in 46.67% patients in group 1, 53.33% in group 2 and 23.33% in group 3. Mean ACQ6 score was significantly higher in group 3 vs group 2 (1.73 vs 1.23, p=0.003), and vs group 1 (1.17; p=0.003), without significant difference between group 1 and 2 (p=0.416). According to ACQ6, 9 patients in group 1 had an uncontrolled asthma, 11 in group 2 and 15 in group 3. Dyspnea sensation was significantly lower in group 3 vs group 1 (p=0.047).

In conclusion, current smokers had underestimated dyspnea, lower anxiety, and poorer asthma control than nonsmokers or former smokers. These observations stress the importance of smoking cessation to help achieve asthma control.