Care Guides

Return to Index Step 1: Taking Control of Your Asthma Step 2: What is Asthma?Step 3: Know the Signs Step 4: How Asthma Is Diagnosed Step 5: The Levels of Severity Step 6: Determine Your Goals and Expectations Step 7: Asthma Drugs Step 8: Drug Delivery Devices Step 9: Understand Your Action Plan Step 10: Make "Peak Flow" a Habit!Step 11: Avoid Asthma Triggers Step 12: Visit Your Doctor Regularly Key Points Glossary

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Step 5: The levels of severity

Once the doctor has obtained a detailed medical history, run some tests, and diagnosed you as having asthma, your asthma will be classified. This helps determine the treatment plan. It should be classified again at every office visit. There are four levels of severity:

Mild IntermittentMild PersistentModerate PersistentSevere Persistent

Click the buttons above to see the four levels of asthma severity. Asthma is classified based on how often symptoms occur during the day, how often they occur at night, and spirometry results.

In some cases, your doctor may use "peak flow" measurements to help assess your asthma severity instead of spirometry. Peak flow is a simple method of self monitoring that is described later.

Take note

Regardless of your asthma's classification, any single asthma episode can range from mild to severe. This is true for anyone with asthma.

References

National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Expert Panel Report: guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma update on selected topics-2002. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2002 Nov;110(5 pt 2):S141-219.

National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Expert Panel Report 2: guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. Bethesda (MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; 1997 Jul. NIH Publications 97-4051.

Williams SG, Schmidt DK, Redd SC, Storms W. Key clinical activities for quality asthma care: recommendations of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2003 Mar 28;52(RR-6):1-8.

Review Date: 5/16/2007
Reviewed By: Alan Greene, M.D., F.A.A.P., Department of Pediatrics, Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University School of Medicine; Chief Medical Officer, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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