This Study Compared an in Home Asthma Management Program Provided by Nurses or Respiratory Therapist

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Asthma
• Interventions: Behavioral: In-home asthma management program (AMP) provided by nurses; Behavioral: In-home asthma management program (AMP) provided by respiratory therapists

• Registration Number: NCT00639847
• Lead Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Brief Summary

This study compared an in-home asthma management program provided by nurses or respiratory therapists to see if those receiving program had fewer hospitalizations, clinic and emergency room visits and higher levels of satisfaction and health related quality of life.

Detailed Description

Background: Disease management may improve outcomes and reduce cost. We compared an in-home asthma management program (AMP) delivered by respiratory therapists (RTs) or nurses (RNs) to standard care (SC) in 159 adults with moderate to severe asthma to determine the effect on health care utilization (HCU), patient satisfaction (PS) and health related quality of life (HRQOL).

Methods: This single center, prospective trial randomized subjects, age 18-64, to three groups: SC, AMP-RT or AMP-RN. Outcomes at six-months were HCU, cost, pulmonary function, symptoms, environmental assessment, asthma self-management, HRQOL (SF-36; St. Georges Respiratory Questionnaire \[SGRQ\]) and PS. Frequencies were compared using chi 2; all other variables were compared using ANOVA with a post-hoc test.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 1998-10
• Primary Completion: 2002-12
• Study Completion: 2002-12
• Status Verified: 2008-03
• Study First Submitted: 2008-03-13
• Study First Submitted QC: 2008-03-19
• Study First Posted: 2008-03-20
• Last Update Submitted: 2008-03-21
• Last Update Posted: 2008-03-24

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 159

Inclusion Criteria

• Adult patients (age 18-64 years) treated in the ED or hospitalized for an acute exacerbation of asthma at the university teaching hospital were invited to participate.

Exclusion Criteria

• Included other pulmonary disorders or diagnosis of co-morbid disease which was disabling in nature.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Group 2	In-home asthma management program (AMP) provided by nurses	Group 2 will receive routine home visits from nurses provided by a home health care agency.
Group 3	In-home asthma management program (AMP) provided by respiratory therapists	In-home asthma management program (AMP) provided by respiratory therapists. The AMP included asthma education (medications use, monitoring, triggers, steps to manage asthma attacks), demonstration and training (peak flow meter use, MDI and nebulizer use, asthma diary), home environment assessment and suggestions for environmental changes (mattress covers, control of dust, pets, fumes, cleaning materials, cock roach control, etc.)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Health care utilization (hospitalizations, hospital days, emergency room visits, clinic visits) and cost.	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Health related quality of life (SF-36 and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire), oxygenation, pulmonary function, symptoms, patient satisfaction and asthma self-management score	6 months

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; 🇺🇸 San Antonio, Texas, United States