The epidemiology of asthma in adults. An insight

Asthma is a chronic disease with a great impact on public health and on the patients' quality of life. In Latin America, there are scarce epidemiological studies. To describe the prevalence of asthma and the clinical-demographic characteristics in an adult population from a private health system in the City of Buenos Aires. A cross-sectional study of adults who were enrolled in the medical program of a private health system in Buenos Aires between January 1st, 2017, and January 1st, 2018. All the patients that were included in the study had been diagnosed with asthma. The prevalence of asthma in the adult patients of a prepaid health system in the City of Buenos Aires was of 6 % (n = 66, IC 95 % = 5-7), and the prevalence of severe asthma among the same group was of 5 % (n = 3, IC 95 % = 1-13). Most patients had intermittent and mild asthma. This study provides new data about the epidemiology of asthma in the region.