Succesvol behandelen van astma bij kinderen: 10 tips

Conflict of interest: none declared. Financial support: none declared.

• Although clinical studies show that childhood asthma can be controlled well with inhaled corticosteroids, many children with asthma remain symptomatic despite maintenance treatment with inhaled corticosteroids.

• In this article, we present 10 tips for successfully treating childhood asthma using only an inhaled corticosteroid and a short-acting bronchodilator.

• These 10 tips are: make the diagnosis based on the history; do not emphasize the role of lung function studies in the diagnostic process; treat asthma with appropriate medications once you have made the diagnosis; collaborate with the patient and his or her parents; pay attention to the non-drug aspects of therapy; choose an inhaler the child is able to use, train correct use; make follow-up appointments; monitor symptoms, exacerbations and impact on daily life; when children remain symptomatic despite the use of inhaled steroids: investigate potential causes; invest in mutual collaboration between primary and secondary care.