The effect of web-designed education on medication adherence, asthma control and fatigue in patients with asthma: A randomized controlled trial.
Eylül Gülnur Erdoğan, Özlem Örsal
PMID 39031297WHAT IT FOUND
Medication adherence did not improve between groups, but patients assigned to a web education program had better asthma control and less fatigue than those receiving usual care.
Key findings
01Medication adherence did not show a statistically significant difference between groups at measurement times, and linear regression did not show a significant effect of web-based education on MARS.
02Asthma control improved on the ACT scale, where higher scores mean better control: intervention scores rose from 10.90 to 16.84, while control scores changed from 9.88 to 9.85.
03Fatigue decreased: posttest CAFS scores were lower in the intervention group than in the control group, and the intervention group's mean CAFS score fell by 14.83 ± 14.33 units while the control group's change of 1.73 ± 10.59 units was not significant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Asthma diagnosis was based on history alone, without laboratory evaluation, so some participants may not have had asthma. The web program may be harder to use for older adults and people with limited health literacy. The study did not record how much time each participant spent using the website, so it cannot show how much engagement was needed. Follow-up was only 6 weeks, and 8 intervention participants did not complete it, although intention-to-treat and per-protocol results were similar. The intervention combined website content, videos, reminders, and researcher responses, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the program improved medication adherence because the intervention group's own MARS score rose. Between-group MARS averages were not significantly different, and regression did not show a significant effect of web-based education on MARS.