Asthma outcomes workshop: Overview

Background Asthma clinical research will highly benefit from standardization of major outcomes in terms of definition and assessment methodology. This will permit useful comparisons across interventional or observational studies and will allow more effective data sharing. Objective National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality convened a workshop involving 7 expert subcommittees to propose which asthma outcomes should be assessed with standardized methodology in future asthma clinical research studies. Methods Each subcommittee utilized comprehensive literature reviews and expert opinion to compile a list of asthma outcomes and classified them as either core (required in future studies), supplemental (to be used according to study aims and standardized), or emerging (requiring validation and standardization). This work was discussed at an NIH-organized workshop in March 2010 and finalized in September 2011. Results Outcomes for study participant characterization, as well as for prospective clinical trial intervention and observational studies, were proposed for adults and children, and methodologies for outcome collection and reporting were determined. Furthermore, the workshop identified areas in which new outcomes or instruments for their measurement need to be developed and validated. Conclusions Standardized outcomes for clinical research in asthma have been proposed. Participating NIH institutes and other federal agencies will consider these recommendations in future clinical research initiatives in asthma.