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Small-group, interactive education and the effect on asthma control by children and their families
Wade T A Watson1, Cathy Gillespie, Nicola Thomas
1Children's Asthma Education Centre, Dalhousie University, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS. wade.watson@iwk.nshealth.ca
Insights
Interactive asthma education for children significantly reduced emergency department visits and corticosteroid use. This approach improved quality of life for both children and caregivers, demonstrating effective asthma management strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Health Education
- Asthma Management
Background:
- Effective asthma education strategies are crucial for improving patient outcomes.
- This study evaluated a small-group, interactive asthma education program for children and their caregivers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the impact of a novel asthma education intervention on asthma control in children.
- To determine if interactive, small-group education reduces healthcare utilization and improves quality of life.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 398 children presenting to the emergency department with asthma exacerbations.
- Intervention group received small-group, interactive asthma education; control group received usual care.
- Primary outcome measured was the number of emergency department visits in the year following the intervention.
Main Results:
- Children in the intervention group had significantly fewer emergency department visits (0.45 vs. 0.75 per child, p=0.004).
- The intervention reduced the likelihood of requiring emergency care by 38% (RR 0.62) and oral corticosteroid courses (0.63 vs. 0.85 per child, p=0.006).
- Improvements were noted in pediatric asthma quality-of-life (symptom domain) and caregiver quality-of-life (activity domain).
Conclusions:
- Small-group, interactive asthma education significantly improves clinically important outcomes for children with asthma.
- The intervention enhances overall asthma care, reduces healthcare utilization, and positively impacts quality of life for families.
Background:
Effective approaches to education about asthma need to be identified. We evaluated the impact on asthma control by children and their caregivers of an intervention involving small-group, interactive education about asthma.
Methods:
We randomly assigned children who visited an emergency department for an exacerbation of asthma (n = 398) to either of 2 groups. Children assigned to the control group followed the usual care recommended by their primary care physician. Those assigned to the intervention group participated in a small-group, interactive program of education about asthma. We examined changes in the number of visits to the emergency department during the year after the intervention.
Results:
During the year after enrolment, children in the intervention group made significantly fewer visits to the emergency department (0.45 visits per child) compared with those in the control group (0.75 visits per child) (p = 0.004). The likelihood of a child in the intervention group requiring emergency care was reduced by 38% (relative risk [RR] 0.62, 95% confidence interval CI 0.48-0.81, p = 0.004). Fewer courses of oral corticosteroids (0.63 per child) were required by children in the intervention group than by those in the control group (0.85 per child) (p = 0.006). We observed significant improvements in the symptom domain of the questionnaire on pediatric asthma quality-of-life (p = 0.03) and the activity domain of the questionnaire on caregivers' quality of life (p = 0.05). Parents of children in the intervention group missed less work because of their child's asthma after participating in the educational program (p = 0.04). No impact on hospital admissions was observed.
Interpretation:
Education about asthma, especially in a small-group, interactive format, improved clinically important outcomes and overall care of children with asthma.
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