Evaluation of an individualised asthma programme directed at behavioural change

In addition to pharmacological therapy, education and self-management have become indispensable aspects in the treatment of asthma. In order to assist patient and physician in the integration of medical and behavioural therapeutic instructions, self-management programmes were developed 1, 2. By means of education and behavioural techniques, these programmes enhance the patient's sense of self-control, personal responsibility for the treatment, and consider physician and patient as partners in the management of asthma.

Several kinds of asthma programme have been developed, differing in terms of treatment components and outcome. Educating asthmatic subjects, or providing information on the pathophysiology of the illness and medication, results in increase of knowledge but not behavioural change nor decreased morbidity 3. The development of step-care approaches to asthma management has been an important step towards simplification of asthma treatment. In this case, patients receive instructions consisting of treatment levels starting from baseline therapy, and ending up with consulting an emergency department, depending on the severity of their illness. The two most common elements of existing asthma programmes are education in addition to a self-management action plan for medication intake 4–6. Therapeutic action plans can be based on changes in symptoms or changes in peak-expiratory flow rate (PEFR) 7–10. In addition to self-management medical action plans and/or education, some programmes integrate other cognitive-behavioural techniques, such as relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, precipitant avoidance strategies, symptom management or stress-reduction techniques 11–14.

The current study assessed the efficiency of an individualised asthma programme for subjects who reported asthma symptomatology and impairment, despite adequate medical treatment. Whereas many asthma programmes seek to improve or change the patient's medical regimen with self-management techniques, this study sought to reinforce the prescribed therapy. By means of education, and cognitive and behavioural techniques, an attempt to change the patient's knowledge and attitude towards asthma, and asthma-related behaviour, such as symptom-reporting, illness-related emotions, avoidance behaviour and nonadherence, was undertaken.

Another parameter that was included in this investigation was the trait “negative affectivity” (NA) or the disposition to experience subjective distress and dissatisfaction. NA has been extensively linked to illness behaviour and self-report of somatic symptoms. Generally, negative emotions seem to favour biased symptom perception in normals 15 and in asthma 16.

The authors' hypothesis was that education and cognitive-behavioural interventions would improve asthma-related behaviour, but not NA. Short-term therapy is known to influence affective behaviour in cases such as anxiety disorders 17, but the authors expected that the current interventions would be insufficient to change a disposition such as NA.

Subjects and methods

Results

Discussion

The efficiency of an individualised asthma programme that aimed to reduce asthma symptoms and impairment was investigated. Compared with waiting list patients, the subjects who had participated in the programme reported significant improvement in quality of life, asthma symptoms, compliance, PEFR, knowledge, attitude towards asthma, self-efficacy, and negative emotionality. All improvements were visible immediately after the programme interventions and were sustained at 3 months follow-up.

As with other studies 5, 9, 11, the authors found an improvement in disease-specific quality of life after participation in an asthma self-management programme. Specifically, the treatment group reported less impairment, less respiratory symptoms, and less asthma-related emotionality immediately after the programme and after 3 months. Interestingly, although subjects in this sample were classified as having mild-to-moderate asthma, the total AQLQ data were similar to the data of moderate to moderately severe asthma subjects 9. The slightly higher mean age and impairment, as part of the inclusion criteria of this sample, might explain this observation.

The observed short- and long-term influence of education, embedded in an asthma self-management programme on knowledge was extensively demonstrated previously 7, 12. Interestingly, subjects reported increased knowledge 3 months after finishing the programme, in addition to an immediate programme effect. One plausible explanation is the continuous consultation of the workbook even after completion of the programme, resulting in further consolidation of knowledge. In contrast with knowledge, other cognitive variables such as self-efficacy and attitude towards the illness, have been included less frequently as outcome variables for the efficiency of an asthma programme. However, there is substantial evidence that both factors are important intermediate variables for change of health-related behaviour 27, 28. Snyder et al. 29 found increased knowledge in the treatment group relative to the waiting list group, but no changes were reported regarding attitude about asthma and self-efficacy. The present programme induced improvement in self-efficacy and asthma-related attitude. For two out of the three cognitive parameters there was a large amount of missing cases. Since this was not observed for other outcome measures, the cause for this remains unclear. It is unlikely that the high rate of missing cases rendered the current results misleading, since it occurred equally in both groups.

The programme had a significant effect on asthma morbidity. After the programme interventions, less symptoms of airway obstruction, fatigue and irritation were reported, and both day and night-time PEFR increased significantly. These improvements could not be attributed to changes in therapeutic regimen. The strategy for this programme was to emphasise the existing regimen, since all patients had previously received adequate instructions on pharmacological asthma management. One factor that might have contributed to improved asthma morbidity was the increased compliance with medication intake.

Similarly to other studies on asthma self-management 12, 13, compliance with medical therapy increased after programme participation. The overall level of adherence in this study was good: only two subjects dropped out of the study, and a higher cooperation with PEFR monitoring, than could be expected, was observed 30. One reason for this generally high adherence rate was the individualised nature of the programme, meaning that great effort was taken to meet the patient's needs and priorities. Secondly, during recruitment, only the subjects who were motivated to participate in the study and for whom the description of the programme was appealing, might have responded positively to the invitation letter.

Negative affectivity can be measured as a trait and as a state. Correlations between state and trait measures are high 31. In this study NA was measured at the trait level, implying that it referred to a stable, consistent and persistent characteristic. Nevertheless, the subjects reported less trait NA after they had participated in an asthma management programme, which was not observed in a group that had not been subjected to the programme. Personality, as a construct, has a stable enduring aspect, which is resistant to therapy, but on the other hand there is a dynamic, changeable aspect on the level of symptoms and behaviours 32. This was shown in one study where no intra-individual changes in trait NA were found, despite a significant improvement in the clinical condition and quality of life of asthmatic subjects 16. However, the significant correlations between changes in emotional trait and changes in emotional states in the current study (r between 0.50–0.62, p<0.01) highlighted the variable aspect of trait NA. Additionally, cognitive-behavioural interventions have been proven effective treatment to alleviate symptoms and reduce symptomatic behaviour, both of which accompany personality disorders 33.

Unlike other studies, this programme recruited subjects who experienced asthma symptoms and impairment, despite seemingly adequate medical treatment. Mostly, the samples selected for studies on programme efficiency consist of asthmatic subjects with moderate-to-severe asthma, because they are considered as a high-risk population 7, 11, 12, 14, 30. Other examples of target population are minority groups, such as African-Americans, the Hispanic population, or people with socioeconomic problems and low education 34–37. Common to these patient groups is that their asthma was not adequately controlled for by medication at the onset of the study. Thus, the improvements that are generally observed can be attributed to better medical management due to the introduction of self-management training. Instead, this study included patients with mild-to-moderate asthma who complained and reported impairment, despite their clinically stabilised condition and an appropriate medical regimen. They were considered to be a relevant group because they are often a challenge in clinical practice and induce a considerable amount of frustration to their treating physician. The application of new behavioural strategies to deal with asthma has yielded positive changes in cognitive, behavioural, affective and respiratory parameters. Kotses et al. 38 have obtained similar results in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma who had received appropriate medical attention before they entered the study.

The study described here concerns an individualised asthma-training programme. Although the authors are unable to give an exact cost estimation of the programme, it might be fairly expensive: 6 h of training per patient plus additional administrative time arranging appointments. However, when considering the cost-effectiveness of the training programme at least two factors need to be considered: 1) the target group for this study (patients reporting complaints and impairment despite a medically satisfactory condition), is indeed not a high-risk population, which would justify the high costs. This particular clinical condition can lead to “doctor shopping” or repeated medical consultations and requests for tests and examinations. In this way the programme has indirect economic benefits. 2) In the current template, the programme was administered by a psychologist, but to become more cost-effective, other paramedical disciplines could be trained to deliver the programme.

A major limitation of this study was that only results at 3 months follow-up could be reported, while in other studies, follow-up measurements were performed at 6 months and even 12 months or 6 yrs after the intervention. Subjects were able to maintain the increases in knowledge and quality of life for up to 1 yr after completion of the programme 7, 11. Asthma morbidity increased once self-management behaviour and adherence to original programme instructions deteriorated, due to lack of reinforcement of self-management skills 39.

To conclude, participation in an asthma programme consisting of education and asthma-specific cognitive-behavioural interventions resulted in decreased asthma morbidity, improved health-related quality of life, enhanced compliance, increased knowledge and self-efficacy, a more positive attitude towards asthma, and a general feeling of less negativity. Although follow-up data did not reach beyond 3 months, these findings might be promising for a seldom-addressed population of subjects reporting symptoms and impairment, despite a clinically satisfactory condition.