[Quality of care in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].
BACKGROUND
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been a public health priority for many years and many recommendations have been published on its detection and management.


BACKGROUND
Many studies have shown that practice remains sub-optimal, at both diagnostic and therapeutic levels, in the stable state and during exacerbations. There are multiple factors responsible including the recommendations themselves (method of development, format, distribution and implementation) and persisting grey areas in the literature upon which they are based.


CONCLUSIONS
To improve this situation it will be necessary to clarify the place of various treatment options during the evolution of the disease, to define the best organisational care pathways and to produce precise and didactic guidelines that will be widely distributed and implemented.


CONCLUSIONS
Real progress can be anticipated in view of the increasing quality of the guidelines and the clinical trials upon which they are based.
Roche
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Service de Pneumologie et Réanimation, Hôpital de l'Hôtel Dieu, Paris, France. nicolas.roche@htd.aphp.fr
D019091:Critical Pathways; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D011787:Quality of Health Care