Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research researcher Professor Hilary Pinnock is one of the authors of a commentary comparing national asthma guidelines
The British Thoracic Society/ Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (BTS/SIGN) have published regular updates on asthma management every 18-24 months over the last 15 years, becoming a cornerstone of asthma management across the UK, with the most recent asthma guideline published in 2016.
Following publication in November 2017 of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) asthma guidelines for diagnosis and monitoring, and for management of chronic asthma, there is now more than one national guideline - leading to potential confusion. Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research Programme Lead Professor Hilary Pinnock has published a commentary exploring these differences. Professor Pinnock and co-authors comment on the variations in methodologies used resulting in discrepancies in BTS/SIGN and NICE recommendations in the areas of diagnosis and pharmacological management.
Duncan Keeley and Noel Baxter, Executive Committee Policy Lead and Chair of the Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS) respectively, have published a BMJ editorial today also commenting on some of these differences. The authors call for cooperation between the two guideline organisations for ‘a single, regularly updated, comprehensive, and evidence based guideline covering both diagnosis and management’ and state ‘The logical way forward is for the comprehensive BTS/SIGN guideline to continue, with NICE contributing resources to the task and expertise in cost-benefit analysis.’
The next BTS/SIGN guideline for the management of asthma is planned for publication in 2019.
Links
Link to the BMJ Thorax Journal commentary
Link to BMJ editorial ‘Conflicting asthma guidelines cause confusion in primary care’
Link to the BTS/SIGN guideline on the management of asthma