| |
Online
self-management tool for asthma patients
Main
Article page | Health page|
Fitness articles|
Diseases
An online self-management tool may benefit
people suffering from asthma.
In a study, it has been shown
to significantly improve asthmatics ability to reduce their symptoms.
Researchers tested the system in 200 adults with asthma, finding significant
effects in those whose asthma was either partly controlled or uncontrolled
at the beginning of the trial.
Victor van der Meer worked with a team of researchers from Leiden University
Medical Centre, The Netherlands, to carry out the trial.
“The improvements in asthma control scores for patients with partly or
uncontrolled asthma at baseline suggest a significant reduction of current
asthma symptoms. Future asthma treatment strategies should incorporate
continuous self-monitoring, as demonstrated here,” he said.
Participants in the researchers' system were trained to measure their own
lung function and input the results, either by a web application or text
message.
The web site then suggests personalized advice on how to adjust treatment
and presents a graphical representation of how they are progressing.
According to van der Meer, “This asthma action plan is one of few that not
only specifies action points to increase treatment but also to decrease it,
which provides the possibility to tailor medication to individual needs. All
control level groups showed a similar pattern of pharmacological therapy
over time: an increase in inhaled corticosteroids in the first three months,
followed by a decrease in the next 9 months”.
Patients adhered to the system well, with around an 80 per cent
participation rate in the first three months, decreasing to 60 per cent by
the end of the trial. This reflects the reduced need for monitoring once
control of the disease has been achieved.
The study has been published in BioMed Central's open access journal
Respiratory Research .
- ANI / Times of India
| |
|