Abstract
Objective: The study aimed to determine if an educational intervention will improve COPD exacerbations in African American population after a 6-week self-management program that includes the proper use of an inhaler.
Methods: Ten patients were recruited in a primary care setting with the assistance of the providers. All patients had to complete a pretest and a posttest to assess their knowledge of inhaler technique, their willingness to engage in self-efficacy disease management, their symptoms improvement and treatment adherence. The Inhaler Device Assessment Tool, the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease 6-Item Scale, the CAT test, and the TAI test were the tools used for the project.
Results: In the recruited population, 70 % were females and 30% were males. In the pretest and posttest of the inhaler technique, there is an improvement difference of 1.5 %, with a mean of 3.1 % in the pretest, and 4.6 % in the posttest. The CAT test has a mean of 17.9 with a standard deviation (SD) of 7.25 in the pretest, and a mean of 9.9 and a SD of 6.21. The CAT test has difference of 8. Self-efficacy management shows a difference of 3.4 with a mean value of 53 and 56.4 in the pretest and posttest respectively. Inhaler adherence has a mean value of 46.4 in the pretest and 49.3 in the posttest with a difference of 2.9 in inhaler adherence improvement.
Conclusion: The study reveals that teaching the proper use of an inhaler can improve COPD symptoms and decrease the frequency of COPD exacerbations in African American population after a 6-week self-management program, but further studies are needed to validate the findings
