ABSTRACT
Asthma is one of the chronic diseases of childhood that affects patients' quality of life. Planned education is considered as an important factor in management of sufferers from chronic diseases. Subsequent implementation of such programs leads to almost 70% decrease in chronic diseases and reduction of the confined-to-bed individuals. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of group vs. computer education on the quality of life in 8-12 year old children suffering from asthma in Zanjan Vali-e Asr Hospital. This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 80 children aged 8-12 years who were suffering from moderate to mild asthma. Data collection tool was a questionnaire in which 11 items were about individual characteristics and 25 items were about quality of life concerning physical, psychological, mental and social dimensions. Samples were selected by a non-random method and then they were randomly divided into two categories; group and computer education. The questionnaires were completed by the researcher before and after the intervention. After one month the data were collected and then analyzed statistically. According to the analyses, mean and ranking of the quality of life in our study, regarding WHO standards, indicated an increase in the quality of life and there was a significant increase after the intervention in the quality of life in both groups [p<0/05]. The findings showed that not only education in both ways was helpful in the improvement of the quality of life, but the computer based education had an outstanding impact on it. Therefore, perseverance and promotion of the quality of life by means of continuous computer education for these patients are recommended