Effectiveness of an educational program for children and their families on asthma control treatment adherence

Abstract

Objective: Τo investigate the effect of an asthma care educational program for children and adolescents with asthma, on adherence to asthma control treatment and on clinical indices.

Methods: Individuals newly diagnosed with asthma, aged 4–16 years, randomized to the intervention and control group. The participants were monitored for 6 weeks. At baseline, before the initiation of inhaled corticosteroids/long-acting beta₂-agonist (ICS/LABA), the intervention group attended the educational program; the control group received the usual care. Both groups were equipped with electronic monitoring devices for measuring adherence. Spirometry, exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FeNO), and asthma control test (ACT) score were measured in both groups in the pre and post-ICS/LABA initiation visit.

Results: Seventy-eight participants were enrolled in this study (n = 39 to each group). Median percentage of adherence was 73% for the total sample, and 80% and 68% in intervention and control group, respectively (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, the program was positively associated with improved adherence (p < 0.001). ICS/LABA had a positive effect on spirometric indices, FeNO, and ACT score, whilst the educational program did not improved significantly the above variables.

Conclusions: Establishing and increasing adherence is challenging. An asthma care educational program is associated with greater short-term adherence during a period of active monitoring.

Keywords:

• MeSH Asthma
• pediatrics
• medication adherence
• patient education

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from GlaxoSmithKline. Study sponsors had no role in study design; data collection; statistical analysis; interpretation of the data; and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. We are grateful to the parents and children who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

This study did not receive any specific funding.