Asthma severity scoring:
Asthma was divided into grades I–IV (I being the mildest and IV the
most severe). Grading was based on events that occurred over the past
six months; including day and night symptoms, effect of asthma on daily
activity, use of steroids, and peak expiratory flow rate as defined byGINA guidelines 2020. Pulmonary function tests were performed
for all patients using a fully computerized Spirometer (Jaeger
MasterScreen™ IOS, version 5.2 manufactured by VIASYS Healthcare GmbH,
Hoechberg, Germany) Pulmonary functions were assessed using forced
expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and
the FEV1/FVC ratio, measured and expressed as a percentage of predicted
values with a ratio higher than 0.8 being normal.