Are the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Guidelines Being Correctly Used to Diagnose Severe Asthma in the UAE?

Objectives We aimed to identify the percentage inaccuracy in classifying asthma severity as severe asthma based on the 2019 Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines criteria, at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and make recommendations to improve the assessment of asthma severity. Methods All asthma patients that attended the Pulmonology clinic or the Allergy clinic from May 2015 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed to identify which asthma patients classified as having severe asthma according to the 2019 GINA guidelines criteria. We then calculated the percentage inaccuracy associated with giving diagnoses of severe asthma. Results We retrospectively analyzed a total of 902 patients, and out of those, we identified 334 as patients with severe asthma according to the 2019 GINA guidelines criteria. Of those 334 patients, 218 were given an incorrect asthma severity of either mild (N=14), moderate (N=203), or unspecified asthma severity (N=1) in the hospital's electronic records. This represents a percentage inaccuracy of 65.3% in classifying asthma severity as severe asthma. Fluticasone propionate-salmeterol was the most used ICS-LABA (inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta-agonist) medication in the severe asthma group (58.1%). Fluticasone furoate-vilanterol was identified as the most incorrectly prescribed ICS-LABA medication (68.2%). Conclusion We identified an inaccuracy of 65.3% in classifying asthma severity as severe at our hospital. This inaccuracy is associated with a lack of understanding of the GINA guidelines by clinicians, as well as a lack of acceptance of some of the criteria in the GINA guidelines by patients. We have made recommendations to help improve the accuracy of asthma severity assessment, in order to be fully adherent to the GINA guidelines criteria.