Moving insights in Northern Ireland
25 February 2005

A unique series of reports commissioned by Asthma UK and detailing the reality of living with asthma in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was launched today (25 February).

'A Moving Picture – Asthma in Northern Ireland Today', the first of three reports, is the result of in-depth interviews with almost 300 people with asthma in Northern Ireland.

Although statistics exist for the prevalence of asthma across the UK as a whole, this is the first time that figures and qualitative research have been compiled for individual countries.

'A Moving Picture' gives an insight into the everyday experiences, quality of life and standards of care for the 150,000 people living with asthma in Northern Ireland.

The report is based on 282 interviews with people with asthma of 20 minutes each, conducted over the phone in 2004. The participants were a stratified random sample of patients whose views on and experiences of symptoms, medicines and care are regularly sought by Asthma UK to ensure its policies accurately reflect the concerns of ordinary people.

'I was taking so much of my reliever inhaler that I was constantly getting the shakes,' says one woman featured in the report. 'It was a revelation when a new GP assessed my asthma and changed my medication. I feel like I can now finally leave my house...'

'A Moving Picture' reveals that only one in four people with asthma in Northern Ireland expects their medicines to control their symptoms and lead unrestricted lives. Four out of five people are still experiencing daily asthma symptoms and yet their confidence in local health care practitioners and routine care is higher than anywhere else in the UK.

On average each month in Northern Ireland there are 200 hospital admissions for asthma, and, tragically three deaths.

Supplementing the qualitative information in the report is data gathered by the Lung & Asthma Information Agency – a non-government body supported by Asthma UK that analyses the epidemiology of asthma. This includes numbers of people with asthma, asthma mortality and hospital admissions.

The other two reports in the series, describing the experiences of people with asthma in Wales and Scotland, will be published in March 2005.