SAN FRANCISCO – A website designed to give people with asthma tailored feedback about whether they need to see a doctor and what questions to ask when they do may have helped improve asthma control in a randomized, controlled trial in 325 patients.
The study randomized patients to get access to one of two modules in a "patient activation website." The asthma module provided tailored feedback about patients’ asthma control, helped them decide whether they needed to visit a medical provider sooner than already scheduled, and suggested questions for patients to ask their providers. The control group got access to a module that suggested questions they should ask their primary care providers about preventive services such as cancer screening.
Among 325 adults who completed 12 months of follow-up (157 in the intervention group and 168 in the control group), measures of asthma control improved significantly in both groups, with most measures improving significantly more in the intervention group compared with the control group.
Mean scores on the Asthma Control Test (ACT) increased from 17.7 at baseline to 19.9 at 12 months in the intervention group and from 17.9 to 19.1 in the control group, both of which were significant improvements. The greater improvement in the intervention group was statistically significant compared with the control group, Jennifer M. Poger and her associates reported in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
The proportions of patients with controlled asthma (defined as an ACT score of 20 or greater) increased from 50% at baseline to 73% at 12 months in the intervention group and from 53% to 67% in the control group, both of which were statistically significant improvements. The difference between groups, however, did not reach statistical significance, reported Ms. Poger, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Penn.
The mean number of inhaled asthma medications being used increased by 0.4 in the intervention group between baseline and the 12-month follow-up, compared with 0.2 more medications in the control group, a statistically significant difference between groups.
The results suggest that websites that provide tailored feedback to patients with chronic conditions such as asthma may help them control their diseases, Ms. Poger said.
The investigators’ financial disclosures were not available.