Direct costs of overdiagnosed asthma: a longitudinal, population-based cohort study in British Columbia, Canada.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:A current diagnosis of asthma cannot be objectively confirmed in many patients with physician-diagnosed asthma. Estimates of resource use in overdiagnosed cases of asthma are necessary to measure the burden of overdiagnosis and to evaluate strategies to reduce this burden. We assessed differences in asthma-related healthcare resource use between patients with a confirmed asthma diagnosis and those with asthma ruled out. DESIGN:Population-based, prospective cohort study. SETTING:Participants were recruited through random-digit dialling of both landlines and mobile phones in the province of British Columbia, Canada. PARTICIPANTS:We included 345 individuals ≥12 years of age with a self-reported physician diagnosis of asthma. The diagnosis of asthma was reassessed at the end of 12 m

SUBMITTER: Ng B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6858138 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature