Effects of a tailored inhaler use education program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

The effect of education on self-care agency and rational drug use of patients with COPD

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the effects of education given to patients diagnosed with the COPD on self-care agency and rational drug use.

METHODS

This study has a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. Participants were divided into two groups, those who received training with the COPD Guide booklet (n = 40) and routine clinical care (n = 43).

RESULTS

As a result of the study found a statistically significant difference between the self-care agency and rational drug use scale post-test mean scores of the patients in the intervention and control group in favor of the intervention group (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Education on COPD management increased patients' self-care agency and their information, attitudes, and behaviors regarding rational drug use.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Clinicians can integrate a COPD Guide into routine care for patients with COPD.

Efficacy of an educational intervention in the management of an inhalation device among nursing professionals of an emergency department

OBJECTIVE

To explore the most frequent errors of the inhalation technique (main topic for the pharmacological treatment of exacerbations of asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in the nursing staff of an emergency department, and to evaluate the efficacy of an educational intervention.

METHODS

Prospective quasi-experimental study, carried out in a hospital in Argentina during 2019. For the evaluation of the nursing staff, the steps of the Separ-Alat Consensus were used. The educational intervention consisted of oral explanation and visual demonstration of the inhalation technique. Paired data analysis was performed, and absolute and relative frequencies were calculated with their respective 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS

A consecutive sample of 72 nurses was included, of which 95.83% (95%CI 88.30-99.13) made at least one error in the baseline assessment. The most frequent errors were the lack of indication to the patient to exhale prior to inhalation (83.72%), forgetting to remove the air chamber and repeat the steps before the second dose (81.40%). After immediate evaluation after receiving the educational intervention, 74.42% (95%CI 58.83-86.49) corrected the technique. However, at one month, 53.49% (23/43; 95%CI 37.66-68.86) performed the technique correctly.

CONCLUSIONS

The educational intervention could be effective in correcting errors in this practice, although its effects tend to fade over time. Therefore, we consider periodic and systematic education relevant to maintain a correct inhalation technique among professionals.

The impact of an Education-Based Intervention Program (EBIP) on dyspnea and chronic self-care management among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. A randomized controlled study

Objectives:

To evaluate the impact of dyspnea and chronic self-care management outcomes of an Education-Based Intervention Program (EBIP) compared to routine care.

Methods:

The population of the study consisted of self-care management scale of 61 patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) stage 2 and within one month after discharge. A total of 51 conforming patients were divided into experimental and control groups for a single-blind randomized trial. Data were collected using an introductory information form, the baseline dyspnea index (BDI), pulmonary function test (PFT), the self-care management process in chronic illness (SCMP-G) scale and body mass index (BMI). There were no addition interventions to the control group. The intervention group underwent a 3-month EBIP intervention that included education, house visits and follow-ups through phone calls between March 2019 and June 2019. The data were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests, χ², Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. p<0.05 was statistically significant.

Results:

The study was completed with a total of 40 COPD patients. The effect of the EBIP training program on BDI, PFT, and SCMP-G scores in the intervention group was statistically proven (p<0.05). However, the differences between the groups in the BDI sub-dimension of functional impairment and PFT were not statistically significant (p>0.05).

Conclusion:

Providing patients with illness-related education through EBIP provided a partial improvement in dyspnea and a significant improvement in chronic care management among COPD patients.