Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36132978›Full record

ArticleJournal of asthma and allergy2022

The Prevalence of Bronchodilator Responsiveness "Asthma" Among Adult Indigenous Australians Referred for Lung Function Testing in the Top End Northern Territory of Australia.

Subash S Heraganahally, Timothy P Howarth, Angus Lloyd, Elisha White, Antony Veale, Helmi Ben Saad

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of asthma and allergy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Mapping the Burden and Risk Factors of Allergic Diseases and Asthma Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: A Scoping Review.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Subash S HeraganahallyDepartment of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-0788-7137
Timothy P HowarthDarwin Respiratory and Sleep Health, Darwin Private Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-3028-0376
Angus LloydDepartment of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Elisha WhiteDarwin Respiratory and Sleep Health, Darwin Private Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Antony VealeDepartment of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-8294-0052
Helmi Ben SaadFaculty of Medicine of Sousse, Hospital Farhat HACHED of Sousse, Research Laboratory "Heart Failure, LR12SP09", University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.ORCID 0000-0002-7477-2965
Royal Darwin Hospital · AUCharles Darwin University · AUFlinders University · AUQueen Elizabeth Hospital · AUUniversity of Sousse · TN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Among Indigenous Australians, studies examining the clinical significance of airway bronchodilator responsiveness (BDR) are limited. In this retrospective study, we examined the nature of underlying lung disease in adult Indigenous patients with BDR referred for lung function testing (LFT) in the Top End Health Service region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Methods: Presence or absence of BDR as per usual (FVC or FEV Results: We found that 123/742 (17%) Indigenous and 578/4579 (13%) non-Indigenous patients had a significant BDR. Indigenous patients with BDR were younger (mean difference 7 years), with a greater proportion of females (52 vs 32%), underweight (15 vs 4%) and current smokers (52 vs 25%). Indigenous patients with BDR displayed lower LFT values, and a higher proportion exhibited FVC BDR compared to non-Indigenous (34 vs 20%). Almost half (46%) of Indigenous patients with BDR had evidence of COPD and/or bronchiectasis on radiology. Adjusting for the presence of radiologic or spirometric evidence of COPD, the presence of BDR was similar between Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients (5-8 vs 7-11%), irrespective of which BDR criteria was used. Conclusion: BDR was higher overall among Indigenous in comparison to non-Indigenous patients; however, a significant proportion of Indigenous patients demonstrating BDR had evidence of underlying COPD/bronchiectasis. This study highlights that although presence of BDR among Indigenous people may indicate asthma, it may also be observed among patients with COPD/bronchiectasis or could represent asthma/COPD/bronchiectasis overlap. Hence, a combination of clinical history, LFT and radiology should be considered for precise diagnosis of lung disease in this population.

Indexed as

airway obstructionasthmafirst nationsradiology imagingreversible airflow obstructionspirometry

Identifiers

PMID36132978
PMCPMC9484079
OpenAlexW4295993145

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.