The Effect of Self-Care Training Program on Asthma Control

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases causing respiratory problems. Self-care programs can effectively reduce symptoms and complications of asthma. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of self-care program training on spirometry indicators and clinical manifestations in asthma patients.

A quasi-experimental study with the control group was performed on 50 patients referred to the respiratory clinic of Al-Zahra hospital in Isfahan. Samples were selected by simple sampling method, and then randomly assigned to subject and control groups. Data were collected using a questionnaire of asthma control and spirometry tests before and one month after the training program. The results were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 by independent-T, pair-T, chi-square (chi-2), repeated measures and Pearson tests.

The results of this study showed that the mean values of spirometric indices (PEF, FEV1/FVC, FVC, FEV1, FEF25%-75%, FEF75%) and scores of the asthma control test questionnaire were increased after the intervention in the experimental group. The clinical manifestations and spirometric indices scores were significantly different before and after the intervention (p<0.05). All the spirometry indices, except for PEF 25%-75%, were increased in the intervention group comparing to the control group (p<0.05).

The results showed the effectiveness of Self-Care program training in patients with asthma. Therefore self-care training can be used as an effective method to control asthma along with other methods such as exercise, and medication