Ensuring the quality of asthma case management.

ABSTRACT

An evaluation based on recording the number of patients and evaluating their treatment outcomes provides the information necessary to plan the provision of care, determine the analysis of the situation and revise practice if the results are not satisfactory. The standardised tools proposed for this evaluation are a district register for new persistent asthma patients, quarterly reports of case finding and an annual report of cohort patient follow-up. The main indicators of quality of care based on register information given by the cohort analysis are the percentage of defaulters and the percentage of patients whose asthma is controlled or well controlled after 1 year of follow-up. The services involved in asthma management should be adapted to the local situation in each country. In particular, the health service structure and national guidelines must be respected, and services involved in asthma management should be implemented in stages. Operational research within the services is essential to ensure that the services provided are appropriate. This type of research involves the health personnel responsible for patient management, provides them with new knowledge and helps them to resolve problems they are confronted with on a regular basis. It also inspires critical thinking, which is crucial to both research and practice.