An academic, pharmaceutical and practice collaboration to implement asthma guidelines

Mccowan, C. , Neville, R.G. and Hoskins, G. (2005) An academic, pharmaceutical and practice collaboration to implement asthma guidelines. Primary Care Respiratory Journal, 14(2), pp. 106-111. (doi: 10.1016/j.pcrj.2004.10.008)

Abstract

AIMS: To investigate whether a patient review service changes the management of asthma in accordance with BTS/SIGN Guidelines. METHODS: An observational study of routine review consultations for patients with asthma registered at 862 practices throughout the United Kingdom. Practices recorded reviews on a computer template and returned the information to an academic unit for analysis. RESULTS: 41,493 patients had data returned with 14,790 (36%) patients reporting symptoms at rest or on a daily basis and 15,840 (38%) patients overusing their short-acting ?2-agonist. 4,556 (74%) of patients with symptoms who had a subsequent consultation reported a reduction in their symptoms, whilst 3,932 (63%) reported a reduction in short-acting ?2-agonist use. Night-time, daytime, and activity symptom scores, and short-acting ?2-agonist use, were significantly reduced for patients reviewed more than once. CONCLUSION: There are a large proportion of patients suffering symptoms at rest or on a daily basis. There was a significant reduction in symptom levels and use of reliever medication for patients who were reviewed. A review service implementing the BTS/SIGN guidelines for asthma management would seem to improve patient outcomes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mccowan, Professor Colin
• Authors: Mccowan, C., Neville, R.G., and Hoskins, G.
• Subjects: R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine; R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Robertson Centre
• Journal Name: Primary Care Respiratory Journal
• ISSN: 1471-4418