Evaluation of individualized asthma self-management programs.
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.
Kotses
H
H
Ohio University, Athens, USA.
Stout
C
C
McConnaughy
K
K
Winder
J A
JA
Creer
T L
TL
D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D012648:Self Care; D012657:Self-Help Groups