Evaluation of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines impairment domain for classifying asthma control and predicting asthma exacerbations

Although the combined use of individual components of the impairment domain increases the sensitivity of identifying patients at high risk for future asthma exacerbations, specific components may be more important than others in severe/difficult-to-treat asthma. Prior exacerbations, short-acting β2-agonist use, lung function, and (in adolescents/adults) the Asthma Therapy Assessment Questionnaire were independent predictors of exacerbations.