Efficacy of an education session by pharmacists for patients with asthma: A randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Asthma education interventions are provided by pharmacists in many developed countries, although it is still a matter of concern in developing countries. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of pharmacist education sessions on asthma patients. Methods: A three-month single-blinded randomised control trial was conducted to evaluate the impact of pharmacist education sessions on asthma patients. The 60-minute pharmacist sessions provided education to patients about asthma management. The primary outcome of the study was to measure the change in the score of the asthma control questionnaire (ACQ). Results: The 82 participants who completed the study were grouped into two groups. A clinically significant improvement of p>0.5 in the ACQ score was found in the symptoms and environment domains in the intervention group. A significant difference in the ACQ score was also found between the two groups (p=<0.05) after 1 and 2 months of intervention. The proportion of patients with controlled asthma increased from 26 (63.4%) to 31 (75.6%) after the second follow-up in the intervention group. Furthermore, a significant increase (p=0.043) in the AQLQ score was noticed from 4.834 at baseline to 5.433 after the intervention. Conclusion: This study concluded that short-time pharmacist education sessions could improve patients asthma status and quality of life.