American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Apr 2021
Expert Consensus on the Tapering of Oral Corticosteroids for the Treatment of Asthma: A Delphi Study.
Rationale: There is a need to minimize oral corticosteroid (OCS) use in patients with asthma to prevent their costly and burdensome adverse effects. Current guidelines do not provide recommendations for OCS tapering in patients with asthma. Objectives: To develop expert consensus on OCS tapering among international experts. ⋯ Shared decision-making was considered an important goal during the tapering process. Conclusions: In this Delphi study, expert consensus statements were generated on OCS use, tapering, adverse-effect screening, and shared decision-making, which may be used to inform clinical practice. Areas of nonconsensus were identified, highlighting uncertainty among the experts around some aspects of OCS use in asthma, such as adrenal insufficiency, which underscores the need for further research in these domains.