Exacerbations in adults with asthma: a systematic review and external validation of prediction models
File(s)Revised_manuscript_IP.docx (1.55 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Several prediction models assessing future risk of exacerbations in adult patients with asthma have been published. Applicability of these models is uncertain because their predictive performance has often not been assessed beyond the population in which they were derived. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify and critically appraise prediction models for asthma exacerbations and validate them in 2 clinically distinct populations. METHODS: PubMed and EMBASE were searched to April 2017 for reports describing adult asthma populations in which multivariable models were constructed to predict exacerbations during any time frame. After critical appraisal, the models' predictive performances were assessed in a primary and a secondary care population for author-defined exacerbations and for American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society-defined severe exacerbations. RESULTS: We found 12 reports from which 24 prediction models were evaluated. Three predictors (previous health care utilization, symptoms, and spirometry values) were retained in most models. Assessment was hampered by suboptimal methodology and reporting, and by differences in exacerbation outcomes. Discrimination (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve [c-statistic]) of models for author-defined exacerbations was better in the primary care population (mean, 0.71) than in the secondary care population (mean, 0.60) and similar (0.65 and 0.62, respectively) for American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society-defined severe exacerbations. Model calibration was generally poor, but consistent between the 2 populations. CONCLUSIONS: The preservation of 3 predictors in models derived from variable populations and the fairly consistent predictive properties of most models in 2 distinct validation populations suggest the feasibility of a generalizable model predicting severe exacerbations. Nevertheless, improvement of the models is warranted because predictive performances are below the desired level.
Date Issued
2018-11
Date Acceptance
2018-02-05
Citation
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 2018, 6 (6), pp.1942-1952.e15
ISSN
2213-2198
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
1942
End Page
1952.e15
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice
Volume
6
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2018 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29454163
PII: S2213-2198(18)30096-5
Grant Number
NF-SI-0515-10016
Subjects
Adults
Asthma
Exacerbation
Prediction model
Primary care
Risk
Secondary care
Validation
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2018-02-15