An Intervention Using A 10-Item Quiz For Educating Patients With Asthma On Their Disease And Its Treatment In The Waiting Area: How Well Did The Patients Do?

Abstract

Background: Patients’ understanding and knowledge of their illness and its management have a direct impact on the outcome of care. This is particularly true of chronic illnesses like Bronchial Asthma. Opportunities for educating patients with asthma are numerous but are not well-utilised. One such opportunity exists in asthma clinics patients’ waiting rooms.
Method: A 10-item quiz was handed to patients attending a specialized asthma care clinic in Khartoum on arrival. The patients were requested to read the quiz and tick what they believed was the appropriate answer from a list of possible answers. Only a yes or no answer is possible. The answered quiz was then handed to the clinic receptionist who would immediately provide the patient with the same list of questions but with the correct answers clearly highlighted and explained.
Results: 143 patient encounters were recorded. 84 were female patients (58.7%). Age ranged between 12-75 years with a mean of 35 years. Nineteen percent of patients believed that asthma is a psychiatric illness, 51% that it leads to many psychiatric problems and 81% that it causes chronic problems with aging. Thirty percent felt that avoiding allergens/irritants is not important and 47% that antibiotics are helpful to treat exacerbations. Seventy four percent believed inhalers lead to addiction and 77% that steroid inhalers cause serious side-effects.
Conclusion: As in many other studies, knowledge about asthma and its treatment in this cohort of Sudanese patients is poor. Hopefully, the answered quiz has helped in making these patients better educated on their illness.

Keywords: Asthma control, patient knowledge.