The use of clinical guidelines for asthma, diabetes, and hypertension in primary health care.

Objective: To investigate which clinical guidelines primary health care staff refer to regarding asthma, diabetes, and hypertension, the number of existing guidelines, and the organizational level at which they were drawn up, and whether there are different guidelines for the same disease, either in different primary health care centres or within individual centres.

Design: The study is descriptive. Data were obtained by telephone interviews and by procuring clinical guidelines regarding asthma, diabetes, and hypertension from primary health care centres.