The Short-Term Influence of Self-Management on Asthma in Children

Objective: To study the short-term influence of teaching self-management principles and skills on the control of asthma in children. Material and methods: Children aged from six to eighteen years with all classes of asthma severity were enrolled in the study at our outpatient clinic from December 2001 to June 2002. all patients were taught the concept of avoidance of environmental allergens at the first visit and were instructed in the use of home peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) monitoring twice a day. They recorded the PEFR and symptoms in a diary and were followed weekly for 6 weeks. Analysis included changes in the PEFR, PEFR variability, and symptom and physical finding scores. Results: A total of 107 children were studied, 66 boys and 41 girls, with a mean age of 9.7±1.9 (mean ± SD, range: 6 to 18 years). They represented all classes of asthma severity. The PEFR, PEFR variability, physical findings and symptom scores all showed significant improvement at 6 weeks compared with the baseline. (P＜0.05) Significant improvement was seen in all variables in each subgroup according to severity, with the exception of the average PEFR and symptom scores in the mild intermittent group (274.4 to 282.5; 0.740 to 0.481, respectively, P＞0.05). Conclusion: Asthma in children is better controlled when the patients or their parents develop the skills to manage the disease themselves.