The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7218 p473
5 October 2002

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Thorax (thorax.bmjjournals.com)

Self-management plans for asthma can reduce the rate of hospital readmission

Patients given a self-management plan when they are admitted to hospital with acute asthma are less likely to be readmitted than those who are not, a new study suggests (Thorax 2002;57:869).

Researchers randomised 280 patients with acute asthma, who were admitted to hospital over a period of 29 months, to receive 40–60 minutes of education supporting a written self-management plan or standard care. After 12 months, 27 per cent of standard care patients had been readmitted to hospital compared with 17 per cent of patients in the self-management group.

Patients who were self-managing their asthma were more likely to be prescribed inhaled steroids at discharge (99 per cent versus 92 per cent), to receive oral steroids (98 versus 90) and to have hospital follow up (98 versus 84).

However, the researchers found that adjusting for these differences did not reduce the effect of the self-management programme on hospital readmission rates.