Effectiveness of Asthma Home Management Manual and Low-Cost Air Filter on Quality of Life Among Asthma Adults: A 3-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Sirilak Muanprasong,1 Syarifah Aqilah,1 Friscilla Hermayurisca,1 Nutta Taneepanichskul1,2 1College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand; 2HAUS IAQ Research Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, ThailandCorrespondence: Nutta Taneepanichskul, College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, 12 th Floor Sabbasastravicaya Building, Soi Chulalongkorn 62, Phyathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand, Tel [phone], Email [email protected]: Asthma affects the quality of life (QoL) of millions of people worldwide. Effective control is paramount to a decline in prevalence and severity. To address this, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an asthma home management manual and low-cost air filter in improving resource-limited settings.Patients and Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted between March to July 2022. The participants were 18– 55 years old outpatient with asthmatic patients. A total of 114 participants were recruited and randomly assigned to three groups: home management only, home management and air filtering, and control. Validated measurement tools were applied, and the Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate changes in QoL.Results: Asthma burden was found in at least one-third of participants in each group. At baseline, there was no difference in mAQLQ scores among participants in all group allocations (p-value > 0.05), and the air filter group had an increase in the total mAQLQ score (p-value = 0.044) and post-intervention activity quality of life (p-value = 0.002). The environmental quality of life increased post-intervention (p-value = 0.004) and remained higher after four weeks of follow-up compared to baseline (p-value = 0.041) in the home management group participants.Conclusion: The findings indicate that the enforcement of a home management manual and the application of low-cost filters in air circulation systems offer advantages in improving the quality of life of patients with moderate and mild asthma.Keywords: Asthma, home management manual, low-cost air filter, quality of life

Keywords

• asthma
• home management manual
• low-cost air filter
• quality of life.