The aim of this study is to evaluate usual care versus biomarker-directed care (using blood eosinophil counts) for the management of asthma patients in primary care setting.
The study hypothesizes that BEC is a valuable biomarker that can guide asthma treatment, and result in reduction in asthma exacerbations, better symptom control and improvement in quality of life compared to usual arm in mild to moderate asthma patients in the primary care setting.
Researchers would compare using blood eosinophil count guided to usual care to see if biomarker-directed asthma treatment and management
Singaporeans or Singapore Permanent Residents
Patients aged ≥21 to 65 years old
Physician diagnosed asthma for duration of at least 4 weeks
On or will be initiated on Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2025 step 1-3) treatment
History of life-threatening asthma requiring intubation or intensive care unit admission
Severe asthma or difficult to treat asthma
Current use of long-term immunosuppression, LTRA receptor antagonist (Montelukast) and Theophylline or long-term oral steroids
Presence of other known causes of eosinophilia besides asthma (e.g. parasitic infection), based on physician's discretion and investigation as per clinical practice and suspicion
National Healthcare Group Polyclinics
Lead sponsor
National Medical Research Council (NMRC), Singapore
Collaborator
Singapore General Hospital
Collaborator