Implementation of an internet-based asthma patient education program in primary care: results of a single-arm trial

Abstract

Objective:

Asthma education programs (AEPs) for patients are known to be important to provide skills to effectively manage the disease. We developed an electronic AEP (eAEP) and assessed the extent to which patients with asthma in primary care are capable to use the eAEP and whether asthma knowledge improved after eAEP.

Methods:

A single-arm pilot study was performed between November 2019 and December 2020 in 12 general practices in Upper Bavaria, Germany. Asthma knowledge was assessed by the Asthma Knowledge Test (AKT) at baseline, 2 weeks after completion of the eAEP, as well as after 3 and 6 months. AKT sum scores at baseline and follow-up were compared with each other using the Wilcoxon test.

Results:

In total, 72 patients with asthma were included, of whom all participated in the 2-week follow-up, while data on the 3- and 6-month follow-up was available in 62 and 51 patients, respectively. The eAEP was well accepted and positively evaluated by participants. The mean AKT score significantly (p < .001) increased from 22.8 ± 11.0 at baseline to 44.6 ± 8.3 two weeks after completion of the eAEP. After 3 months, the mean score was still 41.8 ± 7.6, and after 6 months it was 40.2 ± 9.3 (p < .001 each compared to baseline).

Conclusions:

The internet-based asthma education program was well accepted by primary care patients and resulted in a major increase of asthma knowledge. Thus, it has the potential to be an important adjunct in the treatment of patients with asthma in general practice.

Keywords:

• Asthma
• patient education
• self-management
• digital intervention
• internet-based intervention
• primary care

Acknowledgement

We are grateful to the German Airway League for the permission to include a link to its website (www.atemwegsliga.de) comprising videos that show the correct way of using various inhaler devices. We thank the participating general practitioners for their time and effort and for their help in conducting the study.

Declaration of interest

AS is an external expert for the Federal Joint Committee (Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss) with regard to the development of the disease management programs for asthma and COPD; he received regular remuneration for taking part in the sessions. KS has received lecture honoraria from AstraZeneca, Boehringer, Berlin Chemie, Chiesi, GSK and Novartis. The other authors declare that no conflicts of interest exist.

Table 4. Results of the oral test during the appointment 3 weeks after inclusion and after having obtained access to the online program.

Table 5. Evaluation of the eAEP (electronic asthma education program).

Data availability statement

The dataset is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The study was financed by the Bavarian Ministry for Science and Arts.