A Quick Guide to the Routine Management of Asthma in Primary Care


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More than five million people in the UK are being treated for asthma
Many emergency admissions are believed to be avoidable
Many people who die from asthma had well recognised identifiable risk factors

This Quick Guide to the routine management of asthma in primary care is based on the new revised 2009 British Guideline on the Management of Asthma1 and the NICE guidance2 on the use of inhaled steroids in the management of asthma.

It is intended as an aide memoire for primary care health professionals to refer to in the course of a consultation and may be adapted for local use subject to authorised approval.

For further information on the diagnosis and management of asthma please click on the links provided in this toolkit.


1British Thoracic Society, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. BTS/SIGN British Guideline on the Management of Asthma, May 2008, revised edition published June 2009: (http://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/Portals/0/Clinical%20Information/Asthma/Guidelines/Asthma_fullguideline_2009.pdf)
2The use of inhaled steroids in the management of asthma (Adults: http://www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/TA138 and Children: http://www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/TA131).

Author: Ruth McArthur, PCRS UK Education Committee
Contributors: Dr Steve Holmes, Dr Iain Small, Dr Raja Ramachandram, Stephanie Wolfe, Stephanie Austin, Jane Scullion and Andrew Brown
Editor: Dr Mark L Levy