The first years of the Swedish National Airway register

Background: The Swedish National Airway Register (SNAR) was initiated to improve and ensure quality of care for patients with asthma and COPD. Aim: To describe the register design of SNAR and unique patients between the years of 2014 until 2019. Methods: SNAR has been ongoing since 2013 and includes patients with asthma (both children and adults) and COPD from primary and secondary care (both in- and outpatients). Data about healthcare provider, symptoms, comorbidities, additional investigations (i.e. spirometry) and prescribed treatment is registered. The registrations are performed manually by healthcare professionals, or directly transmitted from medical records to a web-based platform. Results: In 2019, 853 primary care clinics, 125 secondary care clinics (whereof 62 pediatric clinics) and 24 inpatient wards were linked to the register. Data was directly transmitted from medical records of about 80% of the clinics, and manually by 20%. The register includes in total 205833 unique patients with asthma and 80372 with COPD. Registrations of new patients and follow-up visits in 2019 applied 73788 patients with asthma (58% women, mean age 44yr) whereof 10190 were Conclusion: The SNAR has cumulatively registered over 280000 individuals and provides a unique insight into the care of patients with asthma and COPD in Sweden.