title: Suboptimal medical therapy in COPD: exploring the causes and consequences.
abstract: Effective outpatient management of COPD requires prescription of and adherence to appropriate therapies. Although practice guidelines for outpatient management of COPD are widely available, evidence suggests that these guidelines are not being implemented widely in clinical practice. Furthermore, several studies have shown that patient compliance with recommended therapy is poor. This paper discusses several reasons why implementation of practice guidelines and adherence with prescribed therapies may be poor. Potential clinical and economic consequences of suboptimal management are reviewed. Although the evidence suggests that improved compliance with guideline-recommended practice will improve symptoms and disease-specific quality of life, further work needs to be done to establish the cost-effectiveness of chronic therapies for COPD relative to other chronic conditions. Without such data, managed care organizations will be reluctant to allocate scarce resources toward expensive guideline implementation programs for individuals with this condition.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle 98103, USA. s-ramsey@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Ramsey
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000318:Adrenergic beta-Agonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D000318:Adrenergic beta-Agonists; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents