Effect of asthma management education program on stress and compliance of patients with allergic asthma to house dust mite.

PURPOSE This study was designed to examine the effect of asthma management education program applied to allergic asthma patients receiving immunotherapy due to house dust mite on their stress and compliance with health care regimens. METHODS A quasi experimental design with non-equivalent control group and non-synchronized design was used. The subjects of this study were 61 patients who were receiving immunotherapy at intervals of a week after their symptoms were diagnosed as house dust mite allergic asthma at the pulmonary department of a university hospital in Seoul. They were divided into an experimental group of 29 patients who received asthma management education and a control group of 32 patients. The asthma management education program was composed of group education (once) and reinforcement education (three times) with environmental therapy and immunotherapy to house dust mite. RESULTS Stress significantly decreased in the experimental group compared to that in the control group. Compliance with health care regimens significantly increased in the experimental group compared to that in the control group. CONCLUSIONS The results suggested that the asthma management education program is effective for the management of stress and the improvement of compliance in patients with allergic asthma to house dust mite.