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M O N T R E A L — There is a disconnect in communications between physicians and parents of children with asthma, according to an analysis of data from a new global asthma survey. Parents and physicians disagree on the amount of time dedicated to asthma education in the office; who initiates discussion about medication side effects; and the level of compliance with asthma medications. The North American pediatric findings of the Global Asthma Physician and Patient (GAPP) study also confirm what most physicians already know: Asthma medication compliance is low; patients with poor compliance experience more symptoms; and side effects lead patients to switch or drop medications. The authors conclude that patient compliance and outcomes could be enhanced through better physician-patient communications and asthma education, and the availability of new treatment options with lower side-effect profiles, Dr. Ronald Dahl of Aarhus (Denmark) University Hospital, and his associates on the GAPP Survey Working Group reported in a poster at the Seventh International Congress on Pediatric Pulmonology. The GAPP survey is the firstever global quantitative survey to uncover asthma attitudes and treatment practices among patients and physicians. The survey was conducted between May and August 2005 in 16 countries and included a total of 5,482 online and telephone interviews with