Clinical pharmacist counseling improves outcomes for Taiwanese asthma patients

Objective To assess the impact of an asthma educational program provided by a nurse combined with asthma counseling provided by a pharmacist on asthma knowledge, quality of life and clinical outcomes in Taiwanese patients with asthma. Setting All patients were recruited from Pulmonary Medicine outpatient clinic, the Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Asthma education was given in three one-hour sessions offered during monthly clinic visits. Method A total of 91 asthma patients were randomly assigned to a nurse-administered education program (Group 1), the education program with additional pharmacist counseling (Group 2), or a control group receiving routine care only (control). Three questionnaires were used for assessment at months 0, 3 and 6. Outcomes were compared between groups to determine efficacy. Main Outcome Measure Asthma knowledge, health-related quality of life, and medication adherence were measured at baseline and 3 and 6 months after enrollment. Results A total of 104 patients were enrolled; 91 completed the study. Knowledge scores of patients in Groups 1 and 2 increased significantly compared to control group. Both intervention groups showed significant increases in knowledge scores with longer follow-up. Group 2 showed a significant improvement in clinical symptoms between baseline (month 0) and month 6 (4.99 vs. 4.21, P = 0.008). No significant differences in medication adherence were seen among groups. Conclusion Regular nurse-administered asthma education with additional pharmacist counseling improves asthma knowledge and clinical symptoms in asthma patients.