title: Adherence to management guidelines for childhood asthma in Australia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about doctors' treatment preferences for childhood asthma.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate adherence to management guidelines for childhood asthma.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand general practitioners (GPs) and paediatric specialists in Australia were invited to take part in a survey, which collected demographic details and explored their familiarity with and adherence to childhood asthma management guidelines.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred doctors (20% response rate) responded and were eligible for inclusion in the survey. Approximately half (54.5%) of the respondents were very familiar with at least one of the childhood asthma management guidelines. The majority of respondents (86.8%) followed guideline recommendations when prescribing initial maintenance therapy for childhood asthma, while 89.2% and 68.0% followed guideline recommendations regarding step-up and step-down therapy respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall familiarity with childhood asthma management guidelines could be improved. There is scope for improvement in the adherence to these guidelines when prescribing medication in childhood asthma, particularly for step-down therapy.
authors.forename: Bonnie J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Bereznicki
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beggs
authors.forename: Caitlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duff
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bereznicki
mesh_terms: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000592:standards*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000592:standards*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents