Asthma management in general practice.

A postal survey of selected general practitioners from Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and rural New South Wales was conducted to compare general practitioners' self-reported asthma management practices with the Asthma Management Plan (1989) of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand. The results suggest that most general practitioners know and practise appropriate asthma management. Room for improvement, however, was detected in the following areas: 1. appropriate understanding of the use of theophyllines, 2. the use of preventive medications such as inhaled steroid and sodium cromoglycate, 3. use of crisis planning for severe asthma attacks, 4. lung function measurement.