Results Although highlighting a general lack of high- quality real-life effectiveness observational research on these clinical ly important topics , the analysis provided insights into how identified observational studies might inform asthma guidelines developers and clinicians .
Overall , RELEVANT appeared reliable and easy to use by expert review ers .
Conclusions Using such quality appraisal tools is m and atory to assess whether specific observational real-life effectiveness studies can be used to inform guideline development and /or decision-making in clinical practice
Abstract Introduction A Task Force was commissioned jointly by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology ( EAACI ) and the Respiratory Effectiveness Group ( REG ) to develop a  quality assessment tool for real-life observational research to identify high- quality real-life asthma studies that could be considered within future guideline development .
Influence of cigarette smoking on inhaled corticosteroid treatment in mild asthma
Background : Although inhaled corticosteroids have an established role in the treatment of asthma , studies have tended to concentrate on non-smokers and little is known about the possible effect of cigarette smoking on the efficacy of treatment with inhaled steroids in asthma . A study was undertaken to investigate the effect of active cigarette smoking on responses to treatment with inhaled corticosteroids in patients with mild asthma . Methods : The effect of treatment with inhaled fluticasone propionate ( 1000 μg daily ) or placebo for 3 weeks was studied in a double blind , prospect i ve , r and omised , placebo controlled study of 38 steroid naïve adult asthmatic patients ( 21 non-smokers ) . Efficacy was assessed using morning and evening peak expiratory flow ( PEF ) readings , spirometric parameters , bronchial hyperreactivity , and sputum eosinophil counts . Comparison was made between responses to treatment in non-smoking and smoking asthmatic patients . Results : There was a significantly greater increase in mean morning PEF in non-smokers than in smokers following inhaled fluticasone ( 27 l/min v –5 l/min ) . Non-smokers had a statistically significant increase in mean morning PEF ( 27 l/min ) , mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second ( 0.17 l ) , and geometric mean PC20 ( 2.6 doubling doses ) , and a significant decrease in the proportion of sputum eosinophils ( –1.75 % ) after fluticasone compared with placebo . No significant changes were observed in the smoking asthmatic patients for any of these parameters . Conclusions : Active cigarette smoking impairs the efficacy of short term inhaled corticosteroid treatment in mild asthma . This finding has important implication s for the management of patients with mild asthma who smoke
Results Although highlighting a general lack of high- quality real-life effectiveness observational research on these clinical ly important topics , the analysis provided insights into how identified observational studies might inform asthma guidelines developers and clinicians .
Overall , RELEVANT appeared reliable and easy to use by expert review ers .
Conclusions Using such quality appraisal tools is m and atory to assess whether specific observational real-life effectiveness studies can be used to inform guideline development and /or decision-making in clinical practice
Abstract Introduction A Task Force was commissioned jointly by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology ( EAACI ) and the Respiratory Effectiveness Group ( REG ) to develop a  quality assessment tool for real-life observational research to identify high- quality real-life asthma studies that could be considered within future guideline development .