Introduction:

Nighttime symptoms are frequent in asthmatics and can be related to severity, degree of asthma control and lung function.

Objectives:

To determine the demographic, clinical and spirometric characteristics of asthmatic patients with nocturnal symptoms, who go to an outpatient pulmonology clinic.

Methods:

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 50 asthmatic patients with nocturnal symptoms, they were assisted in the outpatient consultation at the Hospital Neumológico Benéfico Jurídico, from May 2017 to May 2018.

Results:

Female sex (74.0 %), age ranging 40 and 59 years (52.0 %), family history of asthma or allergy (60.0%) and multiple associated comorbidities (78.0 %) predominated. Daytime hypersomnia was present in 80.0 % of cases, with significantly elevated frequency in patients with moderate and severe persistent asthma, decreased acute reversibility to the bronchodilator, poor disease control, and limited physical activity.

Conclusions:

Nocturnal symptoms in asthmatic patients are frequent and are related to daytime hypersomnia, asthma severity, degree of control, response to the bronchodilator and limitation of physical activity.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )