Asthma in the older adult: Presentation, considerations and clinical management

Salvatore Battaglia, Alida Benfante, Nicola Scichilone

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Asthma affects older adults to the same extent as children and adolescents. However, one is led to imagine that asthma prevalence decreases with aging and becomes a rare entity in the elderly. From a clinical perspective, this misconception has nontrivial consequences in that the recognition of the disease is delayed and the treatment postponed. The overall management of asthma in the elderly population is also complicated by specific features that the disease develops in the most advanced ages, and by the difficulties that the physician encounters when approaching the older asthmatic subjects. The current review article aims at describing the specific clinical presentations of asthma in the elderly and highlights the gaps and pitfalls in the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Relevant issues with regard to the clinical management of asthma in the elderly are also discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1297-1308
Number of pages12
JournalExpert review of clinical immunology
Volume11
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2 2015

Keywords

  • aging
  • asthma
  • asthma diagnosis
  • asthma physiopathology
  • comorbidity
  • elderly

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology

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