Creating A Risk Assessment Tool for Thunderstorm Asthma: the CARISTA Study

Summary

Thunderstorm asthma is a recurring public health emergency in South-Eastern Australia which occurs in springtime. The major identified risk factors for thunderstorm asthma is hay fever and allergy to ryegrass pollen. The goal of the CARISTA study is to identify the risk of springtime allergic and thunderstorm asthma in allergic adults living in South-Eastern Australia. To do this the investigators will recruit 530 people who have hay fever and test them for allergy to ryegrass pollen and undertake simple lung function testing. The investigators will ask study participants to complete a customised symptom tracker over the springtime pollen season for 2 consecutive years. The outcome the investigators are looking for is an asthma exacerbation or worsening asthma symptoms. This study will enable the investigators to identify indicators (biomarkers) of severe and moderate asthma exacerbations in order to identify those at risk of thunderstorm and seasonal asthma so protective treatments and strategies can be advised.

Conditions

• Allergic Asthma
• Thunderstorm Asthma
• Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis
• Grass Pollen Allergy
• Asthma Exacerbation Due to Thunderstorm
• Asthma Acute

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Observational

Prospective observational study

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Alfred

  collaborator OTHER

• Eastern Health

  collaborator OTHER

• Austin Hospital, Melbourne Australia

  collaborator OTHER

• Monash Medical Centre

  collaborator OTHER

• Queensland University of Technology

  collaborator OTHER

• Northern Hospital, Australia

  collaborator OTHER

• Western Hospital, Australia

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Melbourne Health

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Melbourne

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jo A Douglass, MD · University of Melbourne & Royal Melbourne Hospital

• Phillip Bardin, MD · Hudson Institute of Medical Research

• Frank Thien, MD PhD · Eastern Health

• Mark Hew, MD PhD · The Alfred

• Janet Davies, PhD · Queensland University of Technology

• Fay Johnston, PhD · University of Tasmania and AIRHealth PtyLtd

• Edwin Lampugnani, PhD · AirHealth Pty Ltd

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-08-27

Primary Completion

2029-12-31

Completion

2030-12-31

Countries

• Australia

Study Locations