Asthma self-management education program by home monitoring of peak expiratory flow. A randomized trial comparing peak expiratory flow and symptom self-management plans for patients with asthma attending a primary care clinic. Influence of peak expiratory flow monitoring on an asthma self-management education programme. Controlled trial evaluation of an asthma education programme for adults. Evaluation of individualized asthma self-management programs. Evaluation of peak flow and symptoms only self management plans for control of asthma in general practice. Improving asthma outcomes and self-management behaviors of inner-city children: a randomized trial of the Health Buddy interactive device and an asthma diary. Prospective controlled evaluation of the effect of a community based asthma education centre in a multiracial working class neighbourhood. An evaluation of a self-management program for adults with asthma.
A prospective controlled trial of home monitoring of peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was conducted to determine the usefulness of an objective measure of lung function in association with an education program and a medication self-management plan in reducing morbidity in adult patients with asthma. Thirty-five patients managed themselves, using peak flow readings as the basis for the therapeutic plan coupled with educational intervention, whereas 35 control patients used symptoms and spirometric data for following physicians' treatment plans. After a 6-mo study period, patients in the experimental group showed statistically significant improvements in morbidity parameters (days lost from work, acute asthma attacks, days on antibiotic therapy, physician consultations, and emergency room admissions for asthma), increases in FVC, FEV1, and FEV1/FVC, mean PEFR and mean morning PEFR, decrease in percentage of the mean PEFR amplitude, and a reduction in the use of inhaled beta-agonists, oral theophylline, and oral prednisone. Although improvements in some of these parameters were also found in the control group, they did not reach the levels of significance obtained in the experimental group. The personal use of an objective measure of lung function in association with a medication self-management plan leads to improvement in the patient's condition. Great emphasis is placed on educating asthmatics to use action plans to achieve better control of symptoms. The use of peak flow meters (PFM) has been recommended as an important part of self-management plans. We studied 92 (47 F) adult patients with asthma in a primary care setting to compare the effectiveness of action plans using either peak flow monitoring or symptoms to guide self-management. Each patient was instructed in the use of the action plan in the context of a 6-mo asthma education program taught by a nurse. Patients were already using inhaled corticosteroids or were newly prescribed corticosteroids by their family physician. Forty-four patients were randomized to the PFM group and 48 to the symptoms group. Spirometry, symptom scores, quality of life, medication use, and measures of health care utilization and morbidity (emergency department visits, hospitalizations, unscheduled doctor visits, and days lost from work or school) were recorded at baseline and throughout the study period. PC20 methacholine was measured at the first and at the final visits. There were significant improvements within groups for FEV1, symptoms score, PC20 methacholine, and quality of life, but no between-group differences. A significant shift from higher to lower daily use of beta-agonists (p < 0.008 for both groups) and significant shifts to higher daily doses of inhaled steroids (p < 0.001) occurred in each group. Adherence to the self-management plans was only 65% in the PFM group and 52% in the symptoms group. Outcomes for health care utilization were similar except for fewer patients making unscheduled doctor visits within the PFM group. Our findings show that education, regular follow-up, and an action plan are effective in improving asthma control and quality of life, but the routine use of PFM to guide interventions is not the only way to accomplish these objectives. We assessed whether peak expiratory flow monitoring added to a self-management education programme reduced morbidity and improved pulmonary function and adherence to treatment in 100 asthma patients (aged 17-65 years) with adequate treatment and regular 1-year follow-up. Patients randomized to the experimental group used peak expiratory flow readings as the basis for their therapeutic plan coupled with educational intervention, whereas patients in the control group received the same educational intervention and used symptoms only to guide self-management. Morbidity parameters, functional status and adherence to medical regimens improved in both groups, although the percentage of patients with satisfactory adherence was significantly better in the group with peak expiratory flow monitoring (83%) than in controls (52%) (P = 0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that severity of asthma (odds ratio 9.28, 95% confidence interval 1.87-45.96, P = 0.006 for moderate asthma) and type of self-management education programme (odds ratio: 6.19; 95% confidence interval: 2.04-18.81; P = 0.001 for the use of peak expiratory flow readings) were the only independent predictors of adherence to treatment. However, a statistically significant association between adherence and use of peak expiratory flow monitoring was only found in patients with moderate asthma (P = 0.0009). We conclude that peak expiratory flow monitorization in optimal conditions (adequate medical regimen, individualized self-management education and regular follow-up) showed a beneficial effect on adherence to prescribed regimens only in patients with moderate asthma. To improve asthma control and reduce readmission rates through increased knowledge and the development of self management skills, a brief (three hour) adult education programme was developed.
                The course was designed to improve inhaler skills and to teach how to adjust drug doses according to peak flow (PEF) measurements and a treatment plan. It was evaluated in a randomised controlled trial in 76 patients admitted to hospital for asthma by using questionnaires, spirometry, and home monitoring of PEF at entry and at five and 10 months after intervention. The questionnaire provided measures of knowledge about asthma, self management behaviour appropriate to asthma control, asthma symptom frequency and severity, and psychosocial disturbance attributable to asthma.
                During the 10 months observation period the readmission rate for the educated group was one seventh that of the control group and attendance at accident and emergency departments also decreased. No consistent differential improvements were observed in spirometric results, average PEF, or mean daily variability of PEF. Both groups showed improvements in measures of asthma knowledge, behaviour, symptoms, and psychosocial disturbances. However, the intervention group showed a significantly greater improvement in some measures of asthma knowledge and self management skills.
                Despite minimal effect on measures of airway function, substantial changes in illness behaviour and use of health care facilities can be achieved by a brief asthma education programme. We compared the effectiveness of personalized asthma self-management recommendations with that of a group self-management program. We assigned each of 34 asthma patients randomly to one of three conditions: individualized asthma self-management, group asthma self-management, and control. We derived individualized self-management recommendations from patient recordings of asthma occurrence, asthma precipitants, and peak expiratory flow rate made during a 3-month period. The group program we used was the Wheezers Anonymous program. As compared to a control group of patients who received no self-management training, the patients in both the individualized and group condition evidenced improvement of pulmonary function, as measured daily with a home peak flow meter. The improvement was equivalent for patients in the two conditions. Patients in the individualized condition also exhibited a drop in frequency of asthma attacks, but patients in the group condition did not. We concluded that individualized asthma self-management is effective in reducing symptoms of asthma. To compare a peak flow self management plan for asthma with a symptoms only plan.
                Randomisation to one of the self management plans and follow up for a year.
                Four partner, rural training practice in Norfolk.
                115 Patients (46 children and 69 adults) with asthma who were having prophylactic treatment for asthma and attending a nurse run asthma clinic.
                The number of doctor consultations, courses of oral steroids, and short term nebulised salbutamol treatments and the number of patients who required doctor consultations, courses of oral steroids, and short term nebulised salbutamol.
                Both self management plans produced significant reductions in the outcome measures but there were no significant differences in the degree of improvement between the groups. The results were similar for children and adults. The proportions of patients requiring a doctor consultation fell from 98% (50/51) to 66% (34/51) in the peak flow group and from 97% (62/64) to 53% (34/64) in the symptoms only group and the proportions requiring oral steroids from 73% (34/46) to 47% (21/46) and 52% (31/60) to 12% (7/60). The median number of doctor consultations was reduced from 8.0 to 2.0 in the peak flow group and from 4.5 to 1.0 in the symptoms only group.
                The peak flow meter was not the crucial ingredient in the improved illness of the two groups. Teaching patients the importance of their symptoms and the appropriate action to take when their asthma deteriorates is the key to effective management of asthma. Simply prescribing peak flow meters without a system of self management and regular review will be unlikely to improve patient care. Asthma is an important cause of morbidity, absence from school, and use of health services among children. Computer-based educational programs can be designed to enhance children's self-management skills and to reduce adverse outcomes.
                To assess the effectiveness of an interactive device programmed for the management of pediatric asthma.
                A randomized controlled trial (66 participants were in the intervention group and 68 were in the control group).
                Interventions conducted at home and in an outpatient hospital clinic.
                Inner-city children aged 8 to 16 years diagnosed as having asthma by a physician.
                An asthma self-management and education program, the Health Buddy, designed to enable children to assess and monitor their asthma symptoms and quality of life and to transmit this information to health care providers (physicians, nurses, or other case managers) through a secure Web site. Control group participants used an asthma diary.
                Any limitation in activity was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included perceived asthma symptoms, absence from school, any peak flow reading in the yellow or red zone, and use of health services.
                After adjusting for covariates, the odds of having any limitation in activity during the 90-day trial were significantly (P =.03) lower for children randomized to the Health Buddy. The intervention group also was significantly (P =.01) less likely to report peak flow readings in the yellow or red zone or to make urgent calls to the hospital (P =.05). Self-care behaviors, which were important correlates of asthma outcomes, also improved far more for the intervention group.
                Compared with the asthma diary, monitoring asthma symptoms and functional status with the Health Buddy increases self-management skills and improves asthma outcomes. Previous work has indicated a high rate of non-attendance at hospital based clinics among young, multiracial asthmatic patients of lower socioeconomic class. The efficacy of delivering asthma education from a community health centre established in a multiracial working class neighbourhood was evaluated.
                A prospective controlled study was performed in which asthmatic subjects aged between two and 55 years attending a hospital emergency room with acute asthma and living within a defined geographical area of high emergency room users were randomised to the usual follow up or the education centre plus usual follow up. Measurements were taken at entry into the study and again nine months later.
                At nine months patients randomised to the education centre had more preventive medications, more peak expiratory flow meters and better flow meter technique, more self-management plans, better knowledge of appropriate action to take when confronted with worsening asthma, less nocturnal awakening, and better self-reported asthma control than the control group. There was no difference between the study groups in measurements of compliance, hospital admission, days lost from school or work, or emergency room use.
                The main effects of education were on asthma knowledge and self-management skills, whilst improvements in asthma morbidity were small. Potential reasons for this include heterogeneous study population (in terms of baseline self-management skills, asthma severity, ethnicity and age), pragmatic study design, insensitivity of many of the measurements of morbidity, the modest effectiveness of a single time limited education programme, and inability to limit the effects of such a large community based study to the intervention group (there was a 67% reduction in asthma admissions during the study period from the geographical area targeted compared with a 22% reduction for the rest of Auckland). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a self-management program for adults with moderate to severe asthma on compliance with inhaled, prescribed, nonemergency medications; asthma symptoms; and airway obstruction. In this controlled experimental study, 55 subjects from a rural community were randomized to one of two groups. Self-efficacy theory served as the framework for this study. Primary measures included the Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) Chronolog, a journal of daily asthma concerns, and a peak-flow meter to appraise airway obstruction. Secondary measures included the Asthma Self-Management Assessment Tool (ASMAT) and the Self-Efficacy for Asthma Management Scale (SEAMS). These measures were completed pre- and post-intervention. Data analysis using descriptive and inferential statistics revealed that subjects receiving the self-management program increased compliance with inhaled medications (U = 271, p = .043).
Education in asthma self-management which involves self-monitoring by either peak expiratory flow or symptoms, coupled with regular medical review and a written action plan improves health outcomes for adults with asthma. Training programmes that enable people to adjust their medication using a written action plan appear to be more effective than other forms of asthma self-management.