SUGGESTIONS FOR A SYSTEMATIC-APPROACH TO REVISED NATIONAL ASTHMA-TREATMENT GUIDELINES IN ADULTS

Background: Medical guidelines provide boundaries that are established for the medical community, within which clinical practice is consider ed to be acceptable. The main purpose for-such guidelines is to improv e the quality of care for patients. This can only be accomplished, how ever, if these documents are accepted and used effectively. In turn, a cceptance of therapy guidelines essentially depends on both the struct ure and the presentation of the contents. Guidelines for the treatment of asthma were first issued in 1994 by the Deutsche Atemwegsliga. Sin ce then, almost 4 years have passed, and our knowledge of the pathogen esis of asthma and drug efficacy has improved significantly. In additi on, new classes of antiasthmatic drugs will be soon available. These d evelopments make it necessary to adapt the guidelines to current knowl edge. Proposals for Improvement: The paper proposes several aspects on improving the present guidelines and aims at fuelling future discussi ons.