Modification of the GOLD recommendations for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to broaden their usage in Turkey

Despite the introduction of numerous national and international COPD guidelines designed to provide clinicians with optimal evidence-based disease management strategies, COPD remains an underdiagnosed and poorly treated disease. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines recommend disease specific diagnosis and management strategies, and they are widely used internationally. In this short report we present the outcomes of a meeting of respiratory experts in Turkey who reviewed the GOLD guidelines and their applicability to the Turkish healthcare system. In particular, we were interested to investigate the possibility of developing a simplified version of the combined assessment model which we believe will be more acceptable to Turkish pulmonologists and will increase its use in everyday clinical practice.