Description

A physician caring for a patient with asthma should include some routine questions during each clinical encounter.


 

Time interval queried for the assessment: past 2 weeks (14 days)

 

Information required: best peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in liters per minute

 

Asthma symptoms: coughing, wheezing, dyspnea, chest tightness

 

How many times did the patient experience:

(1) asthma symptoms during the day

(2) asthma symptoms at night that resulted in the patient being awakened

(3) presence of asthma symptoms when waking in the morning

(4) number of times that a short-acting beta-2 agonist inhaler was used

(5) number of times that the asthma symptoms were resistant to short-acting beta-2 agonist inhaler (did not respond within 15 minutes)

(5) number of days missed from work or school because of asthma

(6) presence of asthma symptoms while exercising or playing

 

Data to collect:

(1) minimum peak expiratory flow

(2) maximum peak expiratory flow

(3) average peak expiratory flow

(4) number of times peak expiratory flow was < 80% of best PEFR

 


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