Enhancing Collaboration Between Doctors and Patients to Improve Asthma

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic, potentially life-threatening disease that affects 17 million people in the United States. Asthma leads to millions of lost work days and thousands of hospitalizations annually. For the millions of people with this disease, it is chronic but controllable. Corticosteroids are the most effective medication for the long-term treatment of persistent asthma, and inhaling the medication minimizes the potential for systemic side effects. Despite convincing evidence of the benefits of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), both patients and doctors seem reluctant to use them regularly. Many people who are prescribed ICS either never take them, or take them less frequently (e.g., once rather than twice daily), less regularly (e.g., "as needed" rather than daily), or at lower doses than prescribed. Doctors agree that at least 50% of people who are prescribed ICS fail to benefit fully because of poor adherence. The many reasons for non-adherence are not fully understood. The relationship between the doctor and patient, an area in which potential impact can be made, is believed to be the strongest predictor of medication adherence. Providing pertinent information about asthma related lung function should prompt communication between the patient and doctor to improve adherence to ICS. DESIGN NARRATIVE: The overall purpose of this study is to improve anti-inflammatory medication adherence and asthma outcomes by encouraging communication between patients and their doctor. The specific aims of the study include the following: 1) improve adherence to ICS medication by encouraging patient-doctor communication with feedback of objective information about airflow obstruction to reinforce medication-taking behavior; and 2) document the impact that the encouragement of communication has on health care outcomes, including health care utilization, pulmonary function, need for rescue courses of oral steroids, and functional impact. The hypothesis of the study is that informing patients and their primary care doctors about the degree of airflow obstruction will prompt interaction between them resulting in greater adherence to ICS medication over one year than will occur in a control group of similar patients who do not receive feedback. Promoting communication between adults with asthma and their doctors in a primary care clinical setting has not yet been studied. All doctors within three general medicine practices and their adult patients with moderate to severe asthma will be enrolled and assigned to either the intervention or usual care. Feedback of interpreted peak flow graphs in relation to current medication therapy will prompt the communication. The intent is to encourage and support the relationship between the doctor and patient rather than to directly intervene. The power of encouraging communication lies in the ensuing dialogue between the doctor and patient. Improvement of adherence to ICS among people with moderate or severe asthma has been shown to decrease morbidity of asthma and improve health outcomes.