Effect of an Empowerment Educational Program on Quality of Life of Patients with Asthma

Abstract

Aim: One of the main goals of caring of asthmatics patients is QOL improvement. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of empowerment education on QoL in patients’ whit asthma. Methods: In this quasi experimental study, we examined 70 patients with asthma who had referred to Be'sat clinic in Kerman in Southeast of Iran. Patients randomly were assigned in intervention or control groups. Based on empowerment education model patients were trained for four two-hour sessions in the experimental group, while the control group did not receive any training. QoL in patients before and eight weeks after the intervention was measured using Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ). Results: The mean overall AQLQ score was 32.85±12.31 and 37.40±15.6 in intervention and the control groups before training respectively. This difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). After training program, the mean score of QoL in the intervention group decreased to 20.37±10.18 and in the control group it was increased to 37.37±15.38. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions: Results of present study showed that empowerment education program will considerably improve the QoL of patients with asthma.