Use of Global initiative for asthma (GINA) guidelines in asthma management among paediatric residents in a Sub Saharan African country: a cross-sectional descriptive study

INTRODUCTION: Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances. Despite abundance of asthma guidelines, prevalence has continued to increase globally. There is need to assess how the contents of asthma guidelines are put to clinical use by doctors in the management of children with asthma. This study aims at evaluating the clinical practice of paediatric residents in applying GINA guidelines. METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive study of paediatric residents from 23 university teaching hospitals in Nigeria using structured questionnaire. Data analyses were with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19 (Chicago IL). Chi square was used to assess for any significant associations between categorical variables. A p 0.05). CONCLUSION: The use of the GINA guidelines was poor among paediatric residents. Application of contents rather than just availability of asthma guidelines may partly account for increasing asthma prevalence globally.