The British Lung Foundation asthma management programme - improving asthma control in adults

Abstract

Background: The 10-year Finland asthma programme showed that educating healthcare workers, patients and families reduces hospital admissions and asthma-related deaths (1).

Aim: The Department of Health and the Scottish Government funded a 2-year pilot project through the British Lung Foundation to determine whether an asthma improvement programme could improve asthma outcomes in the UK (2).

Methods: The project involved the training and education of healthcare workers in Staffordshire and Scotland. Here we report the impact on adults with asthma of this intervention in 51 separate general practices in Staffordshire. Data were then extracted from primary care databases to determine the effect of the intervention on recorded asthma incidence and control (using the RCP 3 questions).

Results: The intervention recruited 51 separate practices serving populations of >250,000 in Staffordshire. From these 16,136 and 16,141 adults had a diagnosis of asthma in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Following the intervention there was a significant improvement (p<0.0001) in asthma control in adults within participating practices. There were no significant differences in the reported prevalence of asthma between years.