Qualitative study of super-responders in severe asthma with biologics
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Qualitative analysis of the experience of super-responders to biologic therapy in severe asthma
IRAS ID
280843
Contact name
Joseph Lanario
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Plymouth
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
People with severe asthma experience symptoms that are difficult to manage despite taking high doses of medications. They experience frequent asthma attacks that require admission to hospital for one or more days. Some of the medications taken by this group, such as the steroid tablet prednisolone, can cause side effects in both the short and long term. The combination of these factors means that severe asthma sufferers are often unable to work or take frequent sick days.
Since 2013, four drugs known as “biologics” have been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to treat severe asthma.Some people who start one of these biologic treatments improve significantly to the point where they described feeling no asthma symptoms at all. Some even described feeling “cured. Health care professionals working closely with severe asthma sufferers refer to this group as “super responders”.
The idea of a super responder is new and the clinical community has yet to agree on a definition for a super responder. Recent work has identified dramatic improvement in lung function and large improvement in certain blood tests as indicators. However, no work has been carried out to ask severe asthma sufferers what they think a good definition for a super responder is, and what the experience of being a super responder is like.In this research we will interview people with severe asthma who their specialist asthma doctor considers to be a super responder. The interview will be conducted by two research psychologists from the University of Plymouth, via the video-call platform Zoom. The information collected from participants will be used to improve understanding of the patient’s experience of biologics and create a patient centred definition of a super responder.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
21/WA/0147
Date of REC Opinion
30 Apr 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion