The perception of dyspnoea in patients with asthma, before and following treatment with inhaled glucocorticosteroids

AbstractThis study was designed in order to establish the perception of breathlessness during rest and while breathing against resistance, in patients with asthma, before and after 8 weeks of inhaled glucocorticoids (IGC) treatment and to compare these parameters in patients with and without improvement in FEV1.Sixty-seven asthmatic patients, with moderate asthma, attending the asthma clinic, and 20 normal subjects were studied. After a 2-week run-in period, in which the subjects were asked to use exclusively β2-agonists as needed, the asthmatic patients were randomized to receive either treatment with IGC, 250 μ g of fluticasone propionate (FP) twice a day, via a diskhaler (47 patients), or to receive placebo (20 patients) and to serve as a control group, for 8 weeks. Spirometry and measurements for the sensation of dyspnoea were performed before and at the end of the treatment period.The mean dyspnoea score during breathing against resistance was significantly lower (P<0·05) in the patients with asthma than in normal subjects, before entering the study. Following 8 weeks of inhaled FP, there was a significant improvement in the mean dyspnoea score during breathing against resistance in the asthmatics receiving IGCs but not in the control group (P<0·05). In the study group 32 patients had an improved FEV1>15% and 15 patients did not. There was a statistically significant difference in perception of dyspnoea (P<0·01), between the group of patients with a improved FEV1and the group of patients that were under IGC treatment without improvement in their FEV1. There was also a difference in the meanβ2 -agonists consumption between the two groups (P