Table 1

Previously identified risk factors for asthma attacks in adults

	Factor	Studies
Previous attacks	↑ Number of previous attacks/ED admissions/hospitalisations	22 25 83 89–91
Disease severity	↓ FEV₁/↑ airway obstruction	23 89 90
Disease severity	↑ GINA Step	23
Disease control	High Asthma Control Questionnaire score	14 23
Disease control	Poor asthma control	91 92
Treatment	↑ Reliever/SABA use	23 89
	↑ Previous courses of oral corticosteroids	89
	Fixed dose steroid versus steroid in maintenance and reliever therapy	90
	Poor treatment adherence	93
	Incorrect inhaler technique	94
	Inhaler device polypharmacy	83
	Co-prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs	95
Demographic factors	Female gender	25 89 90 95
	Increased age	25 89 95
	Ethnicity: Black	91
Comorbidities	Smoking	22 89 95
	Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease	25 89 95–97
	Rhinitis, nasal polyps, eczema	89 95
	Rhinitis	25
	Chronic sinusitis	14 96 97
	Obesity	23 89 96 98
	Depression	83 95 97
	Vocal cord dysfunction	83
	Obstructive sleep apnoea	83 97
	Recurrent respiratory infections	97
Inflammation/phenotype	↑ Blood eosinophil count	89 95 96
Inflammation/phenotype	↑ Bronchodilator responsiveness	96

Listed studies: Fuhlbrigge et al,10 Bateman et al,23 Patel et al,90 Blakey et al,89 Loymans et al,22 TENOR,91 Kang et al,25 McDonald et al,83 Bateman et al,92 Engelkes et al,93 Melani et al,94 Price et al,95 Denlinger et al,96 ten Brinke et al,97 Fitzpatrick et al 98.
GINA, Global Initiative for Asthma; SABA, short-acting β-agonist.