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Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156:945-946.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The report by Dr Scarfone and his colleagues¹ concluded that "a greater emphasis must be placed on teaching methods to optimize drug delivery and to instruct patients about the importance of self-monitoring of disease severity." While these recommendations are unequivocally desirable and essential if the current endemic problem of emergency care and hospitalization for asthma are to be favorably influenced, the investigators' emphasis on the use of the peak flow meter is not well supported by controlled clinical trials. The weight of evidence indicates that symptom monitoring (and consequent need for intervention with an inhaled ß₂-agonist) has been demonstrated to be generally equal to^2-3 or better than^4-5 peak flow monitoring in providing early warning of an exacerbation requiring intervention. The authors lament in their conclusions that nonadherence to the guidelines of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute persists a decade after the first set was introduced. Perhaps it . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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