Effects of Education about Action Plans according to Self-Monitoring on Self-Management Adherence, Knowledge, Symptom Control, and Quality of Life among Adult Asthma Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify the effects of education regarding action plans according to a self-monitoring program on self-management adherence, knowledge, symptom control, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among adults with asthma. METHODS: Thirty-four patients were randomly assigned to the intervention group and thirty-two to the control group in this study. A tailored 50-minute intervention based on the contents of self-monitoring and action plans developed by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute was provided to the intervention group. Structured and well developed questionnaires were used to measure the dependent variables. RESULTS: There were no differences in all general and clinical characteristics, and the dependent variables between two groups in the pre-test. In the post-test, there were differences in the level of self-management adherence (t=4.41, p<.001), knowledge (t=2.26, p=.027), symptom control (t=-2.56, p=.013), and total HRQoL (t=2.14, p=.036) between the two groups, although there was a difference only in the sub-domain of emotion (t=2.03, p=.047) in HRQoL. CONCLUSION: This study found that action plans according to self-monitoring that enhance a participatory interaction in the treatment and care could help patients with moderate to severe asthma to engagead equately in self-care, to control their symptoms, and to improve their HRQoL. Further studies are still needed to identify longitudinal effects of this program.