Australia has one of highest rates of asthma in the world. With a prevalence rate of 10% in Australia, asthma is a national health priority area.
The Australian Asthma Handbook defines asthma as chronic condition which can be controlled but not cured. The goals of good asthma control are to minimise day and night time symptoms, limitation of activity, airway narrowing, bronchodilator use and risk of adverse outcomes such as exacerbations.
A 2015 study by Reddel et al. surveyed 2,686 Australians with asthma aged over 16 years. The online study used the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and revealed that: 54.4% of participants were classified as ‘well controlled’, 22.7% of participants were ‘not well controlled’, 23.0% were ‘very poorly controlled’.