Guidelines aim to standardise and optimise asthma diagnosis and management. Nevertheless,
adherence to guidelines is suboptimal and may vary across different healthcare professional
(HCP) groups.Further to these concerns, this European Respiratory Society (ERS)/European
Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) statement aims to: 1) evaluate
the understanding of and adherence to international asthma guidelines by HCPs of different
specialties via an international online survey; and 2) assess strategies focused at
improving implementation of guideline-recommended interventions, and compare process
and clinical outcomes in patients managed by HCPs of different specialties via systematic
reviews.The online survey identified discrepancies between HCPs of different specialties
which may be due to poor dissemination or lack of knowledge of the guidelines but
also a reflection of the adaptations made in different clinical settings, based on
available resources. The systematic reviews demonstrated that multifaceted quality
improvement initiatives addressing multiple challenges to guidelines adherence are
most effective in improving guidelines adherence. Differences in outcomes between
patients managed by generalists or specialists should be further evaluated.Guidelines
need to consider the heterogeneity of real-life settings for asthma management and
tailor their recommendations accordingly. Continuous, multifaceted quality improvement
processes are required to optimise and maintain guidelines adherence. Validated referral
pathways for uncontrolled asthma or uncertain diagnosis are needed.@EuroRespSoc @AllergyEAACI
statement: Guidelines need to account for differences in resource availability across
various asthma care settings. Continuous, multifaceted quality improvement processes
are needed to optimise and maintain guidelines adherence. https://bit.ly/2UZK5rJ
