Guidelines versus clinical practice in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The main purpose of this study was to assess whether pharmacological treatments prescribed by respiratory physicians to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were consistent with the guidelines. The treatments prescribed by respiratory physicians to 631 consecutive patients with COPD, compared to 879 asthmatics were prospectively recorded. All subjects underwent peak expiratory flow rate measurement, spirometry and assessment of recent evolution and dyspnoea (visual analogue and Medical Research Council scales). Patients with COPD received more treatments than asthmatics (mean+/-SD: 2.6+/-0.5 versus 2.2+/-0.4, p