Monitoring
Patients who have started or are starting medication adjustment and have
higher risk of poor outcome should be monitored 1-3 months after the first
consultation, and then every 3-12 months thereafter. Patients previously seen at
primary care due to an exacerbation who were discharged after effectively
responding to initial treatment should return for follow-up within 2-7 days
after discharge and then 2-3 months thereafter. After an exacerbation, the patient should be seen within 1 week to
1 month until with good symptom control and has reached or surpassed personal
best lung function. All asthma patients should follow-up at least twice a year.
Lung function should be
recorded at the time of diagnosis, 3-6 months after starting treatment, and
periodically during follow-up.
Remission of Asthma
Remission
of asthma often refers to either clinical remission, such as the absence of
asthma symptoms or exacerbations for a certain period of time, or
complete/pathological remission, which involves normal lung function, airway
responsiveness, and inflammatory markers—both of which reflect the goals of
long-term management.
Please see Goals of Therapy in the Principles
of Therapy.
Clinical
or complete remission has been observed in adults either spontaneously or after
the cessation of controller treatment. It may also be seen in patients with
occupational asthma once exposure is discontinued. GINA identifies the need for
further research on asthma remission in adults on treatment in order to
determine the association between clinical criteria and laboratory results, as
well as to identify predictors of remission or recurrence.