Abstract

Background

The Swedish National Airway Register (SNAR) was initiated in 2013 to ensure and improve the quality of care for patients with asthma and COPD.

Aim

To describe the development and design of SNAR, and to study the 2019 data to evaluate its potential utility related to improvement of quality of care.

Methods

SNAR includes data from patients with asthma (both children and adults) and COPD from primary, secondary and tertiary care, and also, for COPD inpatient care. Data on diagnostic investigations (e.g. spirometry, blood sample, skin prick test), symptom-scores, comorbidities and prescribed treatments are registered. The registrations are entered manually by healthcare professionals, or directly transferred from electronic medical records to a web-based platform.

Results

In 2019, 1000 clinics participated and data were directly transferred by about 88% of them. The register included data on 205,833 patients with asthma and 80,372 with COPD (of these, 5% had both diagnoses). Registrations of new patients and follow-up visits from primary and secondary/tertiary care in 2019 were completed for 75,707 patients with asthma (11,818 children <12 yr, 6545 adolescents 12–17 yr, and 57,344 adults >17 yr) and 38,117 with COPD. Depending on age and disease group, 43–77% had performed spirometry, 36–65% Asthma Control Test, and 60% COPD Assessment Test. The prevalence of current smoking was about 2% in adolescents, 10% in adults with asthma, and 34% in COPD. For these, smoking cessation support was offered to 27%, 38% and 51%, respectively. Overall, limited data were available on investigation of allergy, 6-min walk test, patient education and written treatment plans. Regarding asthma, sex-differences in disease management were evident.

Conclusion

SNAR has cumulatively registered data from over 270,000 individuals, and the register is important for patients, caregivers, authorities, politicians and researchers to evaluate the effect of treatment and to ensure high and equal quality of care nationwide.

Details

Title
The Swedish National Airway Register (SNAR): development, design and utility to date
Author
Stridsman, C 1 ; Konradsen, J R 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Vanfleteren, L 3 ; Pedroletti, C 4 ; Binnmyr, J 5 ; Edfelt, P 6 ; Schärberg, K Fjällman 7 ; Sjöö, Y 7 ; Nyberg, F 8 ; Lindberg, A 1 ; Tunsäter, A 9 ; Ekberg-Jansson, A 10 

1  Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Division of Medicine, the OLIN-unit, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden 
2  Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 
3  COPD Center, Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden 
4  Department of Woman and Child Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Södertälje General Hospital, Sweden 
5  The Swedish Asthma- and Allergy Association, Stockholm, Sweden; The Swedish Asthma- and Allergy Research Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden 
6  The Swedish Heart and Lung Association, Stockholm, Sweden 
7  The Swedish National Airway Register, Gothenburg, Sweden 
8  School of Public Health and Community, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden 
9  Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Lund, Sweden 
10  Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
Dec 2020
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
e-ISSN
20018525
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/20018525.2020.1833412
ProQuest document ID
2458509213
Copyright
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons  Attribution – Non-Commercial License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.