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Background Poorly controlled asthma is associated with increased morbidity and healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU). Therefore, to quantify the environmental impact of asthma care, this retrospective, cohort, healthCARe-Based envirONmental cost of treatment (CARBON) study estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the UK associated with the management of well-controlled versus poorly controlled asthma. Methods Patients with current asthma (aged ≥12 years) registered with the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (2008‒2019) were included. GHG emissions, measured as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e), were estimated for asthma-related medication use, HCRU and exacerbations during follow-up of patients with asthma classified at baseline as well-controlled (124 000 houses in the UK. Poorly controlled versus well-controlled asthma generated 3.1-fold higher overall and 8.1-fold higher excess per capita carbon footprint, largely SABA-induced, with smaller contributions from HCRU. Conclusions These findings suggest that addressing the high burden of poorly controlled asthma, including curbing high SABA use and its associated risk of exacerbations, may significantly alleviate asthma care-related carbon emissions.
Wilkinson et al. (Tue,) studied this question.