Abstract
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in Australia, affecting 11% of the population. Most patients with asthma are managed in primary care, but globally, 20–70% of patients with asthma are undiagnosed, and 30–35% of people with an asthma diagnosis do not have evidence of current asthma. Improved access to spirometry in primary care is often proposed as the solution. However, simple spirometry is often uninformative, and some patients need several investigations to confirm the diagnosis of asthma, or to distinguish it from common mimics. This article highlights conditions that commonly mimic asthma in adults and adolescents, with practical advice about key clinical features that can help direct initial investigations in primary care.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 337-340 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Medical Journal of Australia |
| Volume | 216 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Apr 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Copyright the Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.Keywords
- Anxiety disorders
- Asthma
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Heart failure
- Laryngeal diseases