A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials of Nurse-Led Educational Interventions for Adults with Asthma

Abstract

Asthma is a serious chronic respiratory disease and one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although the prevalence of asthma varies inte rnationally, it is estimated that approximately 300 million people of all ages suffer from asthma worldwide. Asthma is a burden on governments, health-care systems, families, and patients, which is constantly increasing. Therefore, many proposed guidelines for asthma management emphasize the significance of educational program for patients in order to improve patient knowledge and the management of the disease, ultimately resulting in better health-care outcomes. One model of care that plays a significant role in patient asthma education is the nurse-led clinic. This study was carried out to determine the effectiveness of nurse-led educational intervention versus “usual care” for adults with asthma, before and after discharge from hospital and in terms of quality of life, lung function, self-manage ment, and self-efficacy. The method used for this review derives from the methodology for systematic literature reviews adopted by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The reviewed studies showed no significant difference between nurse-led educational intervention groups and usual care groups in relation to the quality of life, which improved over time for both groups. However, the nurse-led educational group showed significantly better self-management and self-efficacy than the control group. All the reviewed studies support educational interventions by asthma nurses or respiratory nursing specialists as a means of improving clinical outcomes for adults with asthma in a hospital setting.