We are pleased to share that the NORDSTAR manuscript ” From mild-to-moderate to severe asthma: Risk factors and patient profiles from the NORDSTAR cohort” has been published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Using Danish nationwide registry data from the NORDSTAR collaboration platform, the study included 99,748 adults with mild-to-moderate asthma who experienced their first asthma exacerbation between 1 July 2000 and 31 December 2018.
Patients were followed for five years to assess progression to severe asthma according to the ERS/ATS criteria.
The study found that:
🟢 Overall, fewer than 5% of patients with mild-to-moderate asthma progressed to severe asthma within five years following their first exacerbation
🟢 Experiencing an exacerbation despite moderate inhaled corticosteroid use was strongly associated with progression: OR 3.72 (95% CI 3.39–4.09)
🟢 High SABA use and recurrent respiratory infections were also associated with increased odds of progression: OR 1.76 and 1.61, respectively.
🟢 Elevated blood eosinophils were associated with progression, with blood eosinophil counts ≥0.6 × 10⁹/L corresponding to OR 1.97 (95% CI 1.47–2.61)
🟢 Importantly, while progression was relatively uncommon overall, specific combinations of clinical and biomarker risk factors identified patient profiles with markedly higher five-year risks
These findings highlight the value of early clinical risk stratification following an asthma exacerbation, helping identify patients at higher risk of progressing to severe asthma and supporting more targeted prevention and care pathways.
This study adds to the growing body of real-world evidence generated through the NORDSTAR platform. NORDSTAR combines Nordic registry data with broad academic and industry collaboration to address important questions in asthma research.
The platform is governed by the Nordic Severe Asthma Network (NSAN), with data management and analyses conducted by Quantify Research.
We are pleased that Quantify’s Alexandra Cooper, Patrik Sandin, Olivia Ernstsson, and Kirk Geale, PhD are co-authors on this work.
Congratulations to the full author group and collaborators behind the study, including Susanne Hansen, Anna von Bülow, Celeste Porsbjerg, Lauri Lehtimäki, and many others across the Nordic asthma research community.
You can find the article here:
👉Considering combinations of clinical risk factors and patient profiles after a first asthma exacerbation may help identify patients at greater
