RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Impact of guideline awareness on the counseling of patients with acute cough among general practitioners and pharmacy personnel
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 3266
DO 10.1183/13993003.congress-2020.3266
VO 56
IS suppl 64
A1 Ulrike Sent
A1 Guido Bissmann
A1 Peter Kardos
A1 Kai Michael Beeh
YR 2020
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/3266.abstract
AB Introduction: To explore the impact of guideline awareness on therapists’ recommendations for the treatment of acute uncomplicated cough in adults.Methods: An online survey was performed among 302 general practitioners, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians evaluating their recommendations based on two fictive cases of patients with acute cough. Thereafter, participants were shown relevant excerpts of the applicable national guideline (doi 10.1055/a-0808-7409) and re-exposed to the two cases.Results: Prior to guideline exposure, all three groups primarily recommended plant extracts (thyme, ivy, primrose, myrtol and combinations thereof), whereas ambroxol and N-acetyl-cysteine were recommended by only 30% and 20%, respectively. The German cough guidelines recommend all treatments for acute cough, if appropriate RCT’s as acceptable evidence are available, i.e. for several herbal drugs and ambroxol. Following exposure to guideline excerpts, the percentage of participants recommending plant-based products and N-acetyl-cysteine decreased somewhat (strongest decrease for myrtol 49% to 26% and ivy 37% to 21%), whereas that for ambroxol increased to 73%. After guideline exposure, the rationale behind the recommendations increased considerably for guideline conformity (from 5% to 35%) and strength of evidence (from 12% to 22%) whereas that for mucolytic effect (from 42% to 21%) and relaxation/cough-relieving/soothing decreased (from 50% to 16%).Conclusions: Awareness of applicable guidelines should be enforced to enable evidence based recommendations for the management of acute cough by all healthcare professionals involved in patient careFootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 3266.This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).