title: A repeated short educational intervention improves asthma control and quality of life.
abstract: We assessed the effectiveness of an asthma educational programme based on a repeated short intervention (AEP-RSI) to improve asthma control (symptom control and future risk) and quality of life. A total of 230 adults with mild-to-moderate persistent uncontrolled asthma participated in a 1-year cluster randomised controlled multicentre study. The AEP-RSI was given in four face-to-face sessions at 3-month intervals, and included administration of a written personalised action plan and training on inhaler technique. Centres were randomised to the AEP-RSI (intervention) group or usual clinical practice group. Specialised centres using a standard educational programme were the gold standard group. A significant improvement in the Asthma Control Test score was observed in all three groups (p<0.001), but improvements were higher in the intervention and gold standard groups than in the usual clinical practice group (p=0.042), which also showed fewer exacerbations (mean±sd; 1.20±2.02 and 0.56±1.5 versus 2.04±2.72, respectively) and greater increases in the Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire scores (0.95±1.04 and 0.89±0.84 versus 0.52±0.97, respectively). The AEP-RSI was effective in improving asthma symptom control, future risk and quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain vplaza@santpau.cat.
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2567-5496
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Plaza
authors.affiliation: Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Meritxell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peiró
authors.affiliation: Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torrejón
authors.affiliation: Education for Health, Warwick, UK.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.affiliation: Pulmonology Dept, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Antolín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: López-Viña
authors.affiliation: Hospital Serranía de Ronda, Ronda, Málaga, Spain.
authors.forename: José María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ignacio
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Lucena I, Lucena, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Quintano
authors.affiliation: Pulmonology Dept, Hospital de Mataró, Mataró, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bardagí
authors.affiliation: Dept of Epidemiology, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain A full list of the PROMETHEUS Study Group investigators and participating centres can be found in the Acknowledgements section.
authors.forename: Ignasi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires