Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, are recognized as a major public health challenge in Europe. International guidance commonly promotes integrated, primary care–led models for long-term management of these conditions. However, the actual organization and practical division of tasks between primary care and outpatient specialist services vary across health systems, which may affect access and quality of care.
The exploratory study aimed to describe healthcare professionals' perceptions regarding the division of responsibilities between primary care and outpatient specialist care in the management of CRDs across selected European countries, and to identify perceived system-level barriers to delivering care.
This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study performed within the Joint Action on REspiratory Diseases (JARED) project. Data collection occurred from October to December 2025. A two-stage survey design was applied. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate perceptions of the division of responsibilities and barriers to care.
The provided source reports the overall approach but does not include full methodological details in the abstract excerpt. For example, the abstract does not report the full questionnaire content, sampling frame, response rate, or whether any weighting or inferential statistical testing was performed; these details were not reported in the available source text.
The final analytical sample included 293 respondents from 10 European countries. The abstract does not provide a breakdown of respondents by country, by professional role (for example, general practitioners, pulmonologists, nurses), nor demographic or practice-setting characteristics; those specifics were not reported in the excerpt provided.
Overall, 58% of respondents considered the division of responsibilities between primary and specialist care in CRD management to be clearly defined in their setting.
When asked whether the current division of responsibilities was optimal, respondents were roughly evenly split: 44% answered positively (considered the division optimal), 43% answered negatively, and 13% were undecided. This distribution indicates lack of consensus among responding healthcare professionals about whether existing arrangements are appropriate.
These results were reported at the aggregate level; country-level percentages and subgroup analyses were not included in the abstract excerpt and therefore are not available from the source text provided.
The most frequently reported barriers to effective CRD management were:
Long waiting times for specialist care (reported by 41% of respondents).
Shortages of specialists (the abstract text is truncated after this item; the source reports shortages of specialist personnel as a frequent barrier).
The abstract indicates other barriers were assessed, but their identities and frequencies are not reported in the excerpt supplied.
The study reports substantial variation between countries in perceptions of responsibility division and in assessments of whether current arrangements were optimal. The abstract does not list country-specific results within the excerpt, so precise between-country comparisons and which countries reported more positive or negative perceptions are not available from the provided text.
Respondents’ mixed views—more than half perceiving clear role division but nearly equal proportions endorsing or questioning optimality—suggest heterogeneity in how CRD care is organized and experienced across Europe. Reported barriers such as long waiting times and shortages of specialists point to capacity and access issues that may limit delivery of recommended, integrated care models. The findings highlight tension between international recommendations for primary care–led CRD management and real-world system constraints.
The abstract provides core descriptive results but omits several methodological and result details in the available excerpt, including:
These omissions limit the ability to fully appraise representativeness and to draw detailed, country-specific conclusions from the abstract alone.
In this cross-sectional survey of 293 healthcare professionals from 10 European countries conducted within the JARED project (October–December 2025), perceptions about the division of responsibilities for managing chronic respiratory diseases varied. While 58% considered role division clearly defined, clinicians were divided on whether the division was optimal (44% positive vs 43% negative). Long waiting times for specialist care and shortages of specialists were the most frequently reported barriers. Substantial between-country variation was observed. Additional methodological and result details were not reported in the provided source excerpt, limiting further interpretation.