The Effect of an Asthma Education Programme on Patient's Knowledge Regarding Asthma Disease and Inhaler Technique: Randomized Control Trial

Asthma is an important chronic disease and a significant public health problem. Prevalence of asthma is on the rise in all regions of the world, affecting all ages but more commonly among children.The burden and suffering caused by chronic respiratory disease has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a priority. In Malaysia, asthma is among the commonest medical conditions treated in health clinics giving rise to considerable morbidity and mortality (Bahari, Mohd Nur & Rahman, 2003).Much of the morbidity from asthma is believed to be due to factors such as denial of having a chronic condition (GINA, 2002), poor knowledge of the disease process and medication use (Gibson et al., 2004) , poor understanding on the use of inhalers (Thapar, 1994) and poor self-management (Wilson et al., 1993; Hilton, Sibbald, Anderson & Freeling, 1986). Patient education is becoming an essential area of service provision, with our increasing population of people with chronic diseases and conditions requiring long-term management in the community. Inadequate patient education has been cited as a potential cause of re-attendance and the optimal format of education is uncertain. Numerous studies worldwide have evaluated the impact of patient education and indicated that each of the above components is amenable to asthma education (GINA, 2002). Thus, patient education has become a key component of asthma management for asthma patients at all age groups (Lai, et al., 2002; Harrison, 1998). Despite the means to control asthma effectively, many asthma sufferers in Malaysia are not availing themselves of such strategies, leading to avoidable problems that can range from frequent asthma attacks to even death in certain circumstances. Much of the morbidity from asthma is believed to be due to factors such as denial of having a chronic condition (Gibson, et al., 2004), poor knowledge of the disease process and medication use (Thapar, 1994), poor understanding on the use of inhalers (Wilson, et al., 1993) and poor self-management (Lai, et al., 2002; Hilton, Sibbald, Anderson & Freeling, 1986). However the effectiveness of patient education for asthma in a hospital-based setting in Malaysia has not been previously evaluated and remains a puzzle to the researcher. With the concern the researcher would like to explore the effectiveness of Asthma Education Programme in improvement of patients' knowledge regarding asthma, medication adherence and inhaler technique.

Research question. Does an Asthma Education Programme result in improvement of patient's knowledge regarding asthma disease and inhaler technique?

Research aims. i. To compare patient knowledge regarding asthma disease between intervention and control group . ii. To compare patient inhaler technique between intervention and control group. iii. To assess the association between patient's demographic data and health outcomes (Knowledge and inhaler technique).

Study design. This is an experimental study a clinical trials. The period of this study is six month which is start from July 2015 to January 2016.

Study Setting This study will be conducted in Ampang Hospital a government public tertiary specialist hospital in Ampang, Selangor Malaysia.