The National Institutes of Health on Thursday announced that it has updated its asthma guidelines for the first time in more than a decade.
The refresh includes 19 recommendations in six key areas of asthma diagnosis, management and treatment. The authors focus on tailored interventions based on disease severity and age group, covering the use of inhaled corticosteroids, long-acting antimuscarinic antagonists, immunotherapy, indoor allergen mitigation, fractional exhaled nitric oxide testing, and bronchial thermoplasty.
Several new features aim to help clinicians put the recommendations into practice, with expanded summaries for quick reference. The stepwise treatment tables for asthma management have been updated, and new approaches to considering patient preferences and values are suggested.
The guidelines were published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Fact sheets on the revised topic areas and frequently asked questions are available at www.nhlbi.nih.gov/asthmaguidelines.
Recommendations are based on reviews by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and input from National Asthma Education Prevention Program participant organizations, medical experts, and the public, NIH said.
