Observational Vignette Study to Examine Patient, Healthcare Provider, and Informal Caregiver Perceived Burden of Asthma-Related Exacerbations

Trial description: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways and an important aim of asthma management is to prevent exacerbations. It is important to understand the impact of asthma exacerbations on patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) from the perspective of patients as well as healthcare professionals (HCPs) and informal caregivers of asthma patients. This is a low interventional, prospective, cross-sectional, vignette study to examine the perceived burden of asthma-related exacerbations on asthma patients as assessed by: a) asthma patients; b) health care providers who manage asthma (primary care practitioners, allergists, pulmonologists, nurses); and c) informal caregivers (e.g., spouses and parents) of asthma patients. Study participants will be recruited from opt-in members of an online panel and the three cohorts of panelists (asthma patients, HCPs, informal caregivers) will be independent of each other. This study will be conducted using a multi-step approach with the first step being to develop a vignette-based survey instrument. The vignettes will be designed to simulate hypothetical profiles of asthma patients who experience mild, moderate or severe exacerbations. Online bulletin board focus groups will be conducted to inform development of the vignettes and selection of other measures for inclusion in the survey instrument. Initial web-based survey instruments will be developed for each of the three target participant groups (asthma patients, HCPs, caregivers), then pre-tested and pilot- tested before the full survey is launched. Approximately 900 subjects in total (~300 subjects per asthma patient, HCP, and caregiver cohorts) will be enrolled for the full survey.