PMID: 15239533Jul 9, 2004Paper

Survey on changes in asthma treatment and management

Medicina
G Raimondi, Martín Sívori

Abstract

A total of 518 chest physicians selected at random from a national list participated in a survey on asthma management. This paper dealt with queries about diagnostic procedures, methods for recognizing life-threatening asthma attacks, patient education and treatment for acute asthma in adults and in children older than 6 years. A total of 198 replies were received (38.2% of questionnaires mailed). A mean score of frequency of use (from 0 = never to 3 = always) was used for assessing the responses. Results were compared with a similar survey performed in 1994, disclosing a satisfactory trend in diagnostic tests with the bronchodilator test and in oral steroid courses (2.74 +/- 2.3 vs 2.30 +/- 1.05 and 1.26 +/- 0.96 vs 0.98 +/- 0.84, respectively). Skin tests were less used (0.50 +/- 0.83 vs 0.88 +/- 1.08). Results reporting how to assess the severity of asthma attacks, such as taking into account symptoms or drop in PEFR, were more frequent in the present study (2.65 +/- 0.66 vs 2.29 +/- 0.90 and 1.93 +/- 1.05 vs 1.51 +/- 1.20, respectively). PEFR or spirometry used by the physician for assessing severity of asthma attacks was not always performed and its comparison was no better than in 1994 (2.14 +/- 1.04 vs 2.13 +/- 0.70). Da...Continue Reading

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