Effectiveness of a Rehabilitation Nursing Consultation on asthma control

Introduction: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease and is a public health problem that requires personalised and multidisciplinary intervention to enable the patient to develop mastery in the self-management of their disease. Rehabilitation nursing is a speciality of nursing that aims to assist individuals with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses to attain and maintain maximum function. This study aimed to test the effectiveness of nursing rehabilitation interventions for people with asthma implemented within the scope of a structured nursing rehabilitation consultation. Methods: Randomised controlled clinical trial. The sample consisted of asthma patients over 18 years old from family health units in a northern region of Portugal. For a power of 80%, the study sample was calculated for 102 non-randomised convenience-selected patients referred by family doctors or nurses. The experimental group underwent rehabilitation nursing consultations, while the control group received nursing care focused on asthma management. Both groups were assessed at two-time points using the CARAT test for asthma control, the AQLQ-M questionnaire for health-related quality of life, and the Modified Patient Enablement Instrument (mPEI) for patient empowerment. Results: A clinically relevant improvement was observed regarding disease-related quality of life, as indicated by the AQLQ-M results. Evaluation with CARAT, particularly regarding lower airway symptom control, showed clinically relevant and statistically significant differences. Through mPEI, we observed that, at the end of the intervention, participants in the intervention group had higher levels of empowerment than the control group. Conclusion: A structured rehabilitation nursing consultation for people with asthma appears to have an effect on empowerment for asthma self-management compared to a general consultation. Regarding symptom control, the sample indicates the effect of rehabilitation nursing intervention on asthma control, according to the CARAT inferior airways score. These results are clinically and statistically relevant.