Systematic Reviews on Pharmacological Treatment of Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Gustavo J. Rodrigo
Departamento de Emergencia, Hospital Central de las Fuerzas Armadas, Montevideo, Uruguay
*Correspondence: Gustavo J. Rodrigo, Email not available
Abstract
Typically, therapeutic decisions are made on the basis of different relevant pivotal clinical studies. However, these studies often vary in different ways, which can lead to different answers to the same question. Because it is difficult for readers to capture and evaluate all the primary studies, review articles are an important source of summarized evidence on a particular topic. Systematic reviews (SRs) condense the results of available carefully designed healthcare studies and provide a high level of evidence on the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. Thus, the aim of this article is to provide the most updated information on pharmacological treatment of the two most prevalent chronic obstructive airway diseases, bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), from fourteen SRs of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This review analyses the strengths and weaknesses of each SR in order to evaluate its clinical applicability.
