Diagnosis of asthma

Abstract

Asthma is a common and potentially life-threatening respiratory condition, which often presents in early childhood and can be a lifelong chronic health problem. Over a patient’s life, they will attend primary care for regular monitoring of their chronic disease, for repeat prescriptions and during acute exacerbations. The current national UK guidelines on the management of asthma produced by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and British Thoracic Society were updated in 2014. This article will focus on the diagnosis of asthma in adults and children and is directly applicable to primary care.