{"id":82,"date":"2017-12-18T15:35:34","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T15:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/thorax\/?p=82"},"modified":"2017-12-18T15:49:33","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T15:49:33","slug":"guidelines-for-the-diagnosis-and-management-of-asthma-a-look-at-the-key-differences-between-bts-sign-and-nice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/thorax\/2017\/12\/18\/guidelines-for-the-diagnosis-and-management-of-asthma-a-look-at-the-key-differences-between-bts-sign-and-nice\/","title":{"rendered":"Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma: a look at the key differences between BTS\/SIGN and NICE"},"content":{"rendered":"

John White, James Paton, Robert Niven, Hilary Pinnock
\n<\/em>On behalf of the British Thoracic Society<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The British Thoracic Society first produced a guideline on asthma and its management in 1990. The first collaborative guideline with the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN) using evidence-based medicine methodology was published in 2003 (1). It has since become a mainstay of asthma management across the UK and beyond, with updates published regularly every 18 to 24 months. The latest BTS\/SIGN guideline for the management of asthma was published in 2016 (2).\u00a0 Both BTS and SIGN are committed to continuing updates with the next update planned for publication in 2019.<\/p>\n

Following publication of NICE Guidelines for diagnosis and monitoring, and for management of asthma (3, 4, 5) there are now two if not three national guidelines, for England at least, with some (apparently) striking differences. This statement considers the similarities and differences to assist clinical colleagues in the care of people with asthma.<\/p>\n

The evidence base considered by the BTS\/SIGN and NICE guideline development groups is broadly the same for each guideline, but the methodology used to produce recommendations is significantly different:<\/p>\n