EUFOREA pocket guide on the diagnosis and management of asthma: an educational and practical tool for general practitioners, non-respiratory physicians, paramedics and patients

International and national initiatives on asthma management provide extensive information on asthma pathophysiology, offering expert guidance on diagnosis and recommendations on treatment, highlighting contemporary therapeutic options [[1], [2], [3]]. Likewise, there are several high-impact task force articles and expert reviews on related topics, including asthma exacerbations, treatable traits, comorbid conditions, biomarkers, biologics and corticosteroids [[4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]]. However, the majority of these articles are very comprehensive and require profound background knowledge, and hence, are mainly suitable for experts in the field of respiratory medicine. In contrast, there is a lack of concise and practical information on asthma for non-specialists, including general practitioners (GPs), nurse-practitioners, paramedics and pharmacists, who see these patients in the first instance.

In line with the previously well-received concept of pocket guides on allergic rhinitis (AR) [13,14] and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) [15], the asthma expert panel of the European Forum for Research & Education in Allergy & Airway Diseases (EUFOREA), in collaboration with several global key opinion leaders in the field of chronic inflammatory airways disease, developed a pocket guide on asthma [16] largely based on international recommendations [[1], [2], [3]] complemented by professional experience. The overall aim of this guide is to provide a concise summary of the cornerstones of asthma diagnosis and management and, thus, to promote awareness, educate and support non-specialist stakeholders and patients.

To this end, the guide provides listings and tables of common manifestations and triggers of asthma, a summary of the key differential diagnoses, commonly encountered treatable traits and comorbid conditions, which should be proactively explored and addressed [Table 1]. Furthermore, we included a shortlist of essential diagnostic tools: i.e. guidance on lung function tests and assessment of airway inflammation which facilitate subtyping (phenotyping, endotyping) of individual patients leading to more personalized approach to management [Table 2; Table 3]. All these features are implemented in simple and clinically applicable algorithms: one specifically linking asthma diagnosis to management [Fig. 1], while the second one focuses on asthma management in the first (GP) and second (respiratory specialist) line of care [Fig. 2].