Effectiveness of Asthma Knowledge in Nurses using Asthma Care Application Compared with Written Asthma Action Plan
Hirunyanitiwattana T1, Pirompanich P, MD3, Boonya-Anuchit P, BNS2, Maitree T, BNS2, Poachanukoon O, MD2
Affiliation : 1 Medical Student, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand 2 Certer of Excellence for Allergy, Asthma and Pulmonary Diseases, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand 3 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand
Background : Asthma education is crucial to prevent exacerbated symptoms and death. An Asthma Care Application (ACA) was
developed to provide self-care knowledge to reduce the incidence of such.
Objective : The effectiveness, in terms of knowledge and satisfaction among nurses, with the ACA was compared to a traditional
written asthma action plan (WAAP).
Materials and Methods : Nurses working at a university hospital attended workshops organized by our group. They were randomly
divided into two groups, one using the ACA and the other a WAAP as educational instruments. Data about asthma knowledge and
satisfaction were obtained by questionnaire before and after each group’s workshop.
Results : Forty-four nurses were enrolled, half worked in the emergency department. The group using the ACA, 25 nurses (57% of
the cohort), revealed a significant increase in post-test asthma knowledge scores (91%) compared to pre-test levels (75%) (p =
0.002). In contrast, the WAAP group showed less improvement: 89% post-test versus 80% pre-test (p = 0.135). The ACA group also
reported higher satisfaction on ease of plan usage (p<0.001), a greater potential to reduce hospital admissions (p = 0.026), and
portability/convenience (p = 0.026).
Conclusion : This ACA has good possibilities for improving patient asthma knowledge and satisfaction as compared to current
WAAP; however, it needs to move past pilot testing on the nurse cohort to the actual end-users, i.e. asthma patients.
Keywords : Asthma, Action plans, Application, Asthma exacerbation
