Efficacy of a structured audio-visual asthma care session during GP visit in Australia: a single GP centre intervention trial

Abstract

Background. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a structured audio-visual educational session for people on asthma symptoms management during a general practitioner visit. Methods. We conducted this single-centre intervention study in a general practice clinic in Queensland, Australia. There were 78 intervention and 78 control participants in this study. We followed 1:1 randomisation to allocate study intervention between two groups of participants with asthma. The intervention group received an audio-visual demonstration of asthma, its symptoms, triggers, and how to use inhalers correctly, along with the standard asthma management by a physician on enrolment. The control group received only the standard asthma management by a physician. We assessed the 'Asthma Control Test' score on enrolment and after 90 days and compared the changes across the groups. Results. Participants were, on average, 28 years old (range: 6-60, 60% women). The intervention group showed a 1.9-unit increment, and the control group showed a -0.5-unit increment in 'Asthma Control Test' score from baseline to endline. The difference of differences between the intervention and control groups was 2.4 units (P = 0.016) after adjusting for potential confounders. In age-stratified analysis, the children (6-17 years) showed a significant difference (mean difference of 2.5 between intervention and control groups) in their asthma control score. Conclusions. Structured educational sessions involving audio-visual media along with standard management for people with asthma during general practice visits would be effective for better asthma control. However, a further multi-centre study with a larger sample is needed to see its efficacy.