METHODOLOGY
Definitions of Asthma Control and Asthma Severity
During preparation of the Task Force proposal in 2004, it was
already obvious that there were no consistently accepted
definitions for asthma control, severity, or exacerbations. This
was subsequently confirmed by literature reviews performed by
individual Working Groups (described below). Criteria based
on American, British, and international (GINA) guidelines
were cited in some clinical trial reports as measures of treatment
effect on ‘‘asthma control,’’ and in others as relating to
‘‘asthma severity.’’ The Task Force therefore set about establishing
new definitions for asthma control and asthma severity,
based on consensus and clinical relevance. After initial round-