Background: Expert opinion highlights the need to decrease asthma exacerbations. Management recommendations and regulatory approvals often combine 12-17 yr-olds and adults, even if clinical trials have too few adolescents to confirm treatment efficacy.

Aim: Compare clinical characteristics, biomarkers, and lung function of adolescent vs adult asthma patients (pts).

Methods: Baseline data and subsequent-year exacerbations were compared for pts aged 12-17 vs 18-34, 35-64, and ?65 yrs enrolled in an observational Asthma Impairment and Risk Questionnaire exacerbation prediction study (general linear models with Scheffe?s post hoc adjustment for pairwise comparisons and Chi-square, significance p?0.05).

Results: 1112 pts were assessed. Higher proportions of adolescents vs adults had well-controlled asthma, did not have exacerbations, used lower levels of medication, and noted an inhaled corticosteroid adherence barrier (Table). Lung function and IgE differed across age groups, but were similar for those 12-17 and 18?34 yrs. Blood eosinophil and FeNO levels, percentage of patients with bronchodilator responsivity, and mean number of each subsequent-year exacerbation types were similar between 12-17 and the other age groups.

Conclusion: Similarities in inflammatory biomarkers and responsivity to bronchodilators support extrapolating efficacy for adults to adolescents, especially for therapies that decrease exacerbations.