TY - JOUR T1 - Benefit from the inclusion of self-treatment guidelines to a self-management programme for adults with asthma JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 386 LP - 394 DO - 10.1183/09031936.01.17303860 VL - 17 IS - 3 AU - J.J. Klein AU - J. van der Palen AU - S.M. Uil AU - G.A. Zielhuis AU - E.R. Seydel AU - C.L.A. van Herwaarden Y1 - 2001/03/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/17/3/386.abstract N2 - This study assessed the long-term efficacy of adding self-treatment guidelines to a self-management programme for adults with asthma.In this prospective randomized controlled trial, 245 patients with stable, moderate to severe asthma were included. They were randomized into a self-treatment group (group S) and a control group (group C). Both groups received self-management education. Additionally, group S received self-treatment guidelines based on peak expiratory flow (PEF) and symptoms. Outcome parameters included: asthma symptoms, quality of life, pulmonary function, and exacerbation rate. The 2‐yr study was completed by 174 patients.Both groups showed an improvement in the quality of life of 7%. PEF variability decreased by 32% and 29%, and the number of outpatient visits by 25% and 18% in groups S and C, respectively. No significant differences in these parameters were found between the two groups. After 1 yr, patients in both groups perceived better control of asthma and had more self-confidence regarding their asthma. The latter improvements were significantly greater in group S as compared to group C. There were no other differences in outcome parameters between the groups.Individual self-treatment guidelines for exacerbations on top of a general self-management programme does not seem to be of additional benefit in terms of improvements in the clinical outcome of asthma. However, patients in the self-treatment group had better scores in subjective outcome measures such as perceived control of asthma and self-confidence than patients in the control group.This study was funded by the Netherlands Asthma Foundation (Grant 94-52), GlaxoWellcome, the “Stichting Astmabestrijding”, and Amicon Health Care Insurance Fund. ER -