Frequency of hyperventilation syndrome in asthma.

Objective: Hyperventilation syndrome is not only an important mimicker of asthma but it also increases perception of symptom severity in otherwise known stable asthmatic cases which may lead to increased use of asthma medication and hospital visits. Hyperventilation syndrome recognition is directly related to improvement of quality of life of an asthmatic patient. Study Design: Descriptive Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Pulmonology, Sahiwal Medical College Sahiwal. Period: 1st Nov 2019 to 1st May 2020.  Material & Methods: In 400 confirmed asthma patients diagnosis of hyperventilation syndrome was made through the use of Nijmegen score. Data was analyzed and Nijmegen scores were checked in terms of age, gender, co-morbid state. Association of Nijmegen score with number of hospital visits and frequency of use of rescue medication was also checked. Results: Younger females having asthma have the highest frequency of hyperventilation syndrome. Asthmatics with obesity and hypertension as co-morbid conditions are more prone to develop hyperventilation syndrome. Increased Nijmegen scores hence increased severity of hyperventilation syndrome is associated with poor control of asthma, increased use of reliever medicine and more frequent emergency department visits. Conclusion: Hyperventilation syndrome is a common cause of deteriorating quality of life of asthmatics however it is ignored most of the time in management of asthma. Every asthmatic with obesity, difficult to control asthma and frequent emergency visits should be looked for underlying hyperventilation syndrome and must be treated accordingly. There should be more research work on causes, diagnosis and management of hyperventilation syndrome.