TY - JOUR T1 - The economic burden of uncontrolled asthma across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region: can we afford to not control asthma? JF - European Respiratory Review JO - EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW SP - 1 LP - 3 DO - 10.1183/09059180.06.00009800 VL - 15 IS - 98 AU - E. D. Bateman Y1 - 2006/06/01 UR - http://err.ersjournals.com/content/15/98/1.abstract N2 - Asthma is a treatable disease, yet in spite of considerable progress in knowledge and the availability of effective treatments, it continues to constitute a significant burden for health services and healthcare budgets and was ranked 25th amongst all causes of disability-adjusted life years in adults and children in 2001 [1]. The Asthma Insight and Reality (AIR) surveys of persons living with asthma, performed in several regions of the world, provide a record of the chronic and often daily personal burden borne by those who have this disease and of the fact that a minority of patients receive appropriate controller therapy [2–4]. Equally surprising is the fact that, at the time of these surveys, performed first in Europe [2], the USA and Canada, and later in the Asia-Pacific region [4], the situation appeared to be only marginally better in countries with more advanced and comprehensive health systems and greater expenditure on health. The surveys revealed high levels of persistent symptoms, unscheduled visits to doctors (averaging almost five times per year in some countries), emergency room visits in up to one-third of patients, and hospitalisation for asthma in up to 30% of patients each year [2–4]. Findings like these point to the need for reappraisal of management guidelines and goals of treatment, and for ensuring that caregivers and patients are made aware of these goals, how they might be achieved, and of the benefits of optimal treatment. Amongst the many reasons why treatment remains suboptimal are lack of recognition on the part of patients and caregivers of how poorly patients' asthma is being controlled, uncertainty about what can be achieved, and concerns about the cost and safety of treatment [2–5]. Some of these points … ER -