title: Asthma patients' knowledge, perception, and adherence to the asthma guidelines.
abstract: Asthma patients' knowledge and perceptions about asthma management regimens have been shown to correlate with the quality of their asthma management and outcomes. This study addresses adult ambulatory asthma patients' knowledge and perception of the asthma management guidelines issued by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. We interviewed 76 patients at three adult medicine outpatient clinics. Of 37 patients who knew about peak flow monitoring, 21 found it to be useful, only 10 were using it regularly, and 7 had a notation about it in their chart. Eight patients knew about patient self-assessment forms, 6 found them useful, 3 had used one recently, and only 1 patient had one in the chart. Six patients knew about asthma action plans, 4 of them thought that these plans were useful, but only 1 patient was actively using it. This study demonstrates major gaps in the asthma patients knowledge, perceptions, and their adherence to recommendations and also with the documentation in the medical record.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14215, USA. vgarg@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Vinod K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.forename: Rakesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bidani
authors.forename: Ellen P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Rich
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hershey
authors.forename: Charles O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Hershey
mesh_terms: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D009518:New York; D005791:Patient Care / Q000592:standards; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010465:Perception; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012212:Rheology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents