RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Lack of asthma knowledge among the pediatric patients and their caregivers contribute to poor asthma control in children. There is no data from Thailand on the health outcomes of school-based educational interventions for asthmatic children. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of school-based asthma educational interventions on health outcomes, asthma control, and management in asthmatic children. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Forty-seven asthmatic students (6-15 years old), 14 caregivers, and five teachers from the Homkred School participated in the study. Asthma knowledge, workshops on pMDI (pressurized metered dose inhaler) techniques, use of asthma diaries, and self-management plans were provided Pre- and post-tests were administered to assess the asthma knowledge of the asthmatic students, their caregivers, and teachers. Pulmonary function tests (PFT) were used to assess the health outcomes. The controls of asthma and self-management behaviors were assessed at three and six months post-intervention. RESULTS: There were significant improvements of asthma knowledge in all groups (p < 0.01) immediately post-intervention and six months later. At pre-intervention phase, there were 18 children who had FEV1 less than 80% of the predicted value. Their PFT significantly improved for all parameters at post-intervention, but in children who had normal FEV1 at baseline, there were no significant changes. Control of asthma was significantly better three and six months post-intervention. The rate of regular use of ICS (inhaled corticosteroid) significantly increased to 40% at three months and 30% at six months (p < 0.001) post-intervention. In addition, the self-management behaviors in the asthmatic children improved. The teachers' management of asthmatic attacks during the classes also improved. As a result of this, there were fewer emergency room (ER) visits. CONCLUSION: School-based educational interventions can significantly improve asthma outcomes in children with asthma. Therefore, the authors highly recommend the use of this intervention.
