Self-management support provided by trained asthma educators result in improved quality of life and asthma control compared to usual care: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: We sought to describe training activities on self-management support (SMS) for asthma educators and the effects of SMS provided by trained educators on asthma patient outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of six medical databases and sought for trials assessing SMS provided for adults with asthma by trained educators. Two reviewers independently selected and extracted data on asthma educators' training activities and patient outcomes. We performed meta-analyses for asthma-related quality of life (QoL) and asthma control.

Results: We screened 3217 records and included 16 trials. Learning activities and assessments were reported in 8/16 and 4/16 trials, respectively. Compared to usual care, trained asthma educators provided SMS that resulted in clinically important improvements in QoL (pooled mean difference [MD] = 0.52; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 0.19 to 0.83) and asthma control (pooled MD= -0.68; 95%CI: -0.99 to -0.38).

Conclusion: Although asthma-specific SMS provided by trained educators had a beneficial effect over the current care, our results highlight the need to better describe training activities for asthma educators.

Practice implications: This systematic review provides key elements of efficient training activities for asthma educators and reaffirms the importance of training educators to provide SMS in order to improve asthma patients' QoL and asthma control.

Keywords: Asthma; Continuing education; Patient education; Self-management support.