Are the components of the Asthma Management Plan important in managing childhood asthma? A survey of general practitioners.

AIM

To gauge the importance and relevance placed by general practitioners on components of the National Asthma Campaign's 'Six step' Asthma Management Plan for childhood asthma.

METHOD

A cross sectional postal survey of a national randomised sample of 824 GPs.

RESULTS

Each component was considered to be 'quite' or 'very' important by at least 70% of respondents. All 11 components were rated to be either 'quite' or 'very' important by 44%, and 91% of respondents considered eight or more of the components to be 'quite' or 'very' important. Two characteristics were consistently associated with the rating of importance: gender, (women GPs generally showing higher ratings), and reported frequency of use of the Asthma Management Plan (frequent users rate importance more frequently).

CONCLUSION

There were high levels of endorsement of the Asthma Management Plan for children with asthma.