Does activity held on World Asthma Day have an impact on the asthma knowledge and awareness of family physicians?

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Annually, certain activities are performed on World Asthma Day (WAD) for the awareness of both patients and physicians about asthma. The study aimed to observe the effects of asthma education on the skills and knowledge of family physicians on WAD, which basically includes updated information of the international asthma guideline. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our quasi?experimental study was started on May 3, 2016, WAD. Education was provided by the Global Initiative for Asthma, 2016. A questionnaire including 25 questions was applied for family physicians before and 6 months after the education. RESULTS: In the investigation of 32 family physicians, 62.5% were women, with 32.6 ± 26.0 months in family physician practice. 59.4% of the family physicians had received education about asthma in their postgraduate period. Twenty?five percent of the participants were using asthma guidelines in their daily practice. In pre? and posteducation, the percentage of accuracy in the tests was 58.4%–77.6% among specialists and 62.3%–75.9% among trainees of family physicians. The percentage levels of accuracy developed in the questions of focusing asthma treatment and correct inhaler medication use after the education program were 62.5%–93.8% (P = 0.002) and 56.2%–90.6% (P = 0.007), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that family physicians did not have a tendency to use guidelines for asthma diagnosis and treatment. With the aid of the education program, their attitude changed positively. We believe that family asthma physicians should also be trained in “WAD” activities.