Perceived control and quality of life in asthma: impact of asthma education

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between patients' perception of asthma control and generic and asthma-specific quality of life (QOL) post-completion of a behavior modification-based adult asthma education program. A secondary objective was to examine associations between changes in perceived control of asthma and generic and asthma-specific QOL. Outcome measures were collected via an asthma management questionnaire (AMQ), generic (SF-36) and asthma-specific (AQLQ) QOL questionnaires, and a perceived control of asthma questionnaire (PCAQ). The cohort (n = 55) consisted of predominately female (75%), married (56%), middle income (46%) patients with severe asthma (65%) who had completed a university or college education (20%) and were working full-time (42%). The mean age was 45.2 (SD = 17.5) years. Perceived control of asthma and generic and asthma-specific quality of life significantly improved after completing the behavior modification-based adult asthma education program. Significant associations were found between perceived control of asthma (PCAQ) and both generic (SF-36) and asthma-specific QOL (AQLQ). Baseline PCAQ was related to all four domains and the total score of the AQLQ and 5 of the 8 domains of the SF-36. PCAQ was related to 3 of the 4 AQLQ domains at 3 months and total AQLQ score at both 1 and 3 months post-education. PCAQ was related to all 8 domains of the SF-36 at 1 month; and 4 of 8 domains at 3 months. Change in PCAQ (deltaPCAQ) was related to change in symptom score, emotional functioning, and total AQLQ score from baseline to 1 month and change in symptom score from baseline to 3 months. In conclusion, perceived control of asthma in patients participating in a behavior modification-based asthma education program was related to generic and disease-specific QOL. An improvement in PCAQ was associated with improved QOL following asthma education. Using the PCAQ as part of an asthma educational needs assessment may be a quick, simple way to identify and target education towards asthma patients with low perceived control.