Reducing allergic triggers is an important self-management behavior for preventing asthma attacks, and patient-centered asthma education has been shown to effectively manage chronic disease. A study by Tzeng and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of a nurse-led patient-centered asthma education program on home environmental control behaviors of parents of children with moderate or severe asthma. A preliminary quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group design was used. Dyads (n = 75) of parents and their children with moderate or severe asthma (ages 6-14 years) were recruited from the asthma clinics of two hospitals in central Taiwan. The experimental group of 38 children/parents from one hospital received patient-centered asthma education. The comparison group of 37 children/parents from the other hospital received routine individual education. At pretest and at the end of the three-month patient-centered asthma education program, we measured parents' control of home environmental triggers, children's asthma signs/symptoms, and children's pulmonary function. The general linear model for repeat measures was used to analyze the data. The level of improvement in dust and cleaning methods was significantly greater among parents in the experimental group than among those in the comparison group (p < 0.05). Children with moderate or severe asthma in the experimental group had fewer signs/symptoms of asthma and better lung function than children in the comparison group.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO YOU AS A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER: The investigators patient-centered asthma education program improved parents' home environmental control and children's asthma sign/symptoms and lung function.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO YOU AS A HEALTH CARE CONSUMER. Nurses can play primary roles as patient educators in asthma clinics. Well-trained patient educators can continuously monitor self-management behaviors to improve patients' compliance with home environmental control, thus leading to better physical outcomes in children with asthma than routine individual asthma education alone.

LF Tzeng et al. A preliminary study to evaluate a patient-centred asthma education programme on parental control of home environment and asthma signs and symptoms in children with moderate-to-severe asthma. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19:1424-1433.