Abstract
Background: Patient education programmes, whether health professional-led or peer-led, may be beneficial to improve health status for many diseases. One of the management strategies in various diseases, is interaction between patients by generating support groups. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of peer-led education on the quality of life and level of patients’ knowledge about their disease in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods: Fourty-six patients with definite AS were allocated randomly to either intervention or control group. The intervention group (n=22) was subjected to peer-led education program about disease one hour weekly for four weeks and was given an educational booklet while control group (n=24) was given educational booklet only. Level of quality of life (SF-36 and ASQoL) and patients’ knowledge about disease (Patient Knowledge Questionnaire) were measured at baseline and at the end of the four-week period in both groups. Non-parametric methods were used in the statistical analysis. Level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Patient Knowledge Questionnaire scores were increased in both groups at the end of the four-week period (p=0.000, 0.007 respectively). In contrast to baseline results, there was significant difference (p=0.029) between groups in favour of intervention group, when comparing Patient Knowledge Questionnaire scores at the end of four-week period. SF-36 and ASQoL scores were not changed in both groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: Both peer-led education and booklets on the disease seem have positive effects on knowledge about disease. However, quality of life level was not changed in this short period of time. This may be related to the fact that quality of life is multidimensional and affected by multiple factors other than health status. This study is going on and the effect of peer-led education on the level of quality of life will be evaluated at sixth month of intervention.
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