Grant: Knowledge Synthesis Grant

This project will update and produce systematic reviews (SRs) focused on the treatment of acute asthma. We aim to: (1) provide the most up-to-date research evidence for treatment decision-making, and (2) engage knowledge users throughout this project to ensure SR relevancy and promote evidence-based decision-making. Acute asthma is a common cause of Emergency Department presentations, and can result in hospitalizations, impressive health care costs and even death in severe cases. Our understanding of this condition has improved over the past two decades and there is now a general agreement on the important role that inflammation plays in how asthma develops and its role during asthma attacks. We will update two SRs in important treatment areas: examining the prevention of admissions to hospitals with systemic CS (SR1) and intravenous magnesium (SR2). We will also produce two new SRs examining: the effectiveness of anti-cholinergic agents to prevent hospitalization in adults with acute asthma (SR3) and the effectiveness of intra-muscular vs. oral CS to reduce relapses (SR4). Knowledge users (clinicians, methodologists, and decision-makers) will be engaged in the refinement of the research questions and outcomes of these SRs and in their development; Cochrane methods will be followed; and potential barriers to the translation of our results into practice will be addressed and reported. This work will help health providers from the emergency and primary care fields, as well as policy-makers, with an opportunity to base their decisions on the highest level of evidence.