Table 1. Defining severe asthma.

Questions		Value
Q1. Do you agree that the criteria listed below appropriately define severe asthma?
	A fatal exacerbation or at least one episode of mechanical ventilation required because of asthma during the last year	4.69 ± 0.58
	At least 2 hospitalizations or ER visits/year	4.31 ± 0.82
	Uncontrolled asthma symptoms (at least 3 of daytime symptoms, night awakening, activity limitations, and/or reliever use)	4.30 ± 0.72
	At least 2 OCS bursts/year	4.06 ± 0.76
	Decreased lung function (FEV1 < 80%)	3.56 ± 0.90
Q2. How many OCS bursts/year appropriately define severe asthma?
	3–4	36 (66.7)
	1–2	8 (14.8)
	5–6	6 (11.1)
	Not a useful criterion	4 (7.5)
	More than 7	0 (0)
Q3. What duration of OCS maintenance/year appropriately defines severe asthma?
	6 mon	21 (38.9)
	3 mon	16 (29.7)
	Not a useful criterion	11 (20.4)
	9 mon	4 (7.4)
	12 mon	1 (1.9)
	No answer	1 (1.9)

Each score is a mean ± standard deviation determined by considering all answers from 1 (disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); ^†Each multiple-choice question was scored as a number (%).The answers are given in decreasing order.

ER, emergency room; OCS, oral corticosteroid; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 second.