Long-term effects of a peer-led asthma self-management program on asthma outcomes in adolescent peer leaders.
Hyekyun Rhee, Tanzy Love, Donald Harrington and 3 others
PMID 33339656WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents with asthma who trained as peer leaders reported better asthma control and quality of life for 15 months.
Improvements began right after training and stayed stable. Without a control group, this shows association, not proof the program caused the change.
Key findings
01Quality of life and asthma control improved significantly after training and remained better over 15 months.
02Asthma knowledge and attitudes toward asthma also improved, with attitudes peaking after the camp leadership experience.
03The study lacks a control group, so it cannot confirm that the program caused these improvements rather than natural variation or other factors.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
There was no control group, so we cannot know if the participants would have improved anyway due to natural maturation or other factors. 33% of the peer leaders withdrew or dropped out, mostly because investigators felt they were not ready or due to time conflicts. The participants were selected for being good self-managers and leaders, so the results may not apply to adolescents who struggle more with asthma or behavior. Self-management behaviors were not directly measured, so the link between the program actions and the health outcomes is inferred.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the peer-led program caused the health improvements. Without a control group, we cannot rule out that these selected, motivated adolescents would have improved their asthma outcomes over time regardless of the intervention.