One in three asthmatics at high risk of a fatal attack

Asthma attack risk underestimated

More than a third of people with asthma are at 'high risk' of having a potentially fatal asthma attack, according to a new survey. Asthma UK surveyed nearly 25,000 people with asthma using an online test known as the Triple A (Avoid Asthma Attacks) test.

The test is aimed at people with asthma to help them find out their risk of having an asthma attack and advise them what they can do to reduce it. Over half (55%) of those who took the test did not think they were at risk of an attack, but the results found that 93 per cent of people had either an increased or highly increased risk.

The test asks people questions about factors which have been independently linked to an increased or highly increased risk of an asthma that could lead to a hospital admission - for example, how often respondents use their blue inhaler. Depending on the answers, they are placed into one of three categories, which are colour coded like traffic lights.

The red category means the person is at highly increased risk, while the green one means no increased risk. As everyone's asthma is different and symptoms can come and go, the test makes it clear that this does not mean there is no risk of having an attack when there are no symptoms, the charity said. Neil Churchill, chief executive of Asthma UK, said: "It's extremely worrying that many people with asthma do not realise their own risk of ending up in hospital.

"As up to 75 per cent of emergency hospital admissions are preventable with better management and support it's vitally important people understand their asthma and crucial that they are supported by healthcare professionals who can help them to reduce their risk."

The Family GP