Asthma: smoking status (under 19)

Indicator type

General practice indicator suitable for use in the Quality and Outcomes Framework.

Rationale

This indicator aims to encourage general practice to ask children and young people aged 5 to 19 years with asthma about their exposure to tobacco and second-hand smoke. Support can then be offered to patients and the people they live with to understand the risks of smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke for those with asthma, and how to access smoking cessation services.

Source guidance

Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management. BTS, NICE and SIGN guideline NG245 (2024), recommendation 1.6.1

Specification

Numerator: The number of patients in the denominator for whom there is a record of smoking status (active or passive) in the preceding 12 months.

Denominator: The percentage of patients with asthma on the register (see the NICE indicator on asthma registers) aged 19 or under.

Calculation: Numerator divided by the denominator, multiplied by 100.

Exclusions: Children under 5 years and adults over 19 years.

Personalised care adjustments or exception reporting should be considered to account for situations where the patient declines to provide their smoking status.

Expected population size: QOF data for 2023 to 2024 for indicator AST008 shows that 0.8% of all patients registered with a GP were on the asthma register and aged 19 years or under: 78 patients for an average practice with 10,000 patients. To be suitable for use in QOF, there should be more than 20 patients eligible for inclusion in the denominator, per average practice with 10,000 patients, prior to application of personalised care adjustments.