Cote 1997.
| Methods | DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial of two interventions METHOD OF RANDOMISATION: Randomised ‐ stratified randomisation MEANS OF ALLOCATION CONCEALMENT‐ not stated. OUTCOME ASSESSOR BLINDING ‐ not blinded. WITHDRAWAL/DROPOUTS ‐ all subjects accounted for. | |
| Participants | Eligible: not specified Randomised: 188 (Peak Flow 62, Symptoms Only 52, Control 74) Completed: 149 (Peak Flow 50, Symptoms Only 45, Control 54) Age: Overall mean: 36 yrs Range: Sex: Male/Female ‐ Asthma Diagnosis: Doctor's diagnosis and objective lung function Recruitment: Hospital admissions or visit to a clinic. Diseases Included: Major exclusions: current and ex‐smokers 40 yr of age or older in whom the best FEV1 after salbutamol was < 80% of predicted, patients with significant concurrent diseases, those requiring > 7.5 mg prednisone to control asthma symptoms and those who had already taken part in an asthma education program. Baseline: FEV1: not stated PEF: % predicted: Peak Flow 93+/‐3; Symptoms 91+/‐3; Control 95+/‐3. Exacerbations not stated | |
| Interventions | Setting: tertiary care setting Type: Two optimal interventions and an active control. (1) Education, peak flow self monitoring, regular review and individualised written action plan based on peak flow enabling self adjustment of medications in the event of worsening asthma. (2) Education, symptoms self monitoring, regular review and a symptoms based written action plan enabling self adjustment of medications in the event of worsening asthma. (3) Control group: Taught inhaler technique by the educator and about medication use and triggers by their pulmonologist. Their physician may have provided a verbal action plan. Duration: A minimum of 1 x one hour one to one counselling sessions for both educated groups | |
| Outcomes | Knowledge, compliance, hospitalisations, ER visits, oral corticosteroids, days lost from work or school. | |
| Notes | Jadad Score = 4 Treatment was optimised for all subjects during baseline. |
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| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Allocation concealment? | Unclear risk | Information not available (Cochrane Grade B) |