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 β2-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 β2-agonist use. Night-time, daytime, and activity symptom scores, and short-acting β2-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.
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McCowan, C., Neville, R. & Hoskins, G. An academic, pharmaceutical and practice collaboration to implement asthma guidelines. Prim Care Respir J 14, 106–111 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcrj.2004.10.008
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcrj.2004.10.008