Chest
Original ResearchThe Influence of Perceived Control of Asthma on Health Outcomes
Section snippets
Overview
We used data from a prospective cohort study of adult members of an integrated health-care delivery system who were hospitalized for asthma during a 4-year period. After hospital discharge, we conducted structured telephone interviews that assessed asthma history, psychological variables, and health status. The goal was to elucidate the impact of perceived control of asthma on asthma health status and the longitudinal risk of emergency health-care utilization for asthma. The study was approved
Patient Characteristics
The baseline characteristics of the study population (n = 865) are summarized in Table 1. The mean age of the patients studied was 60 years; the majority were women, had completed at least some college, and were either current or former smokers. The mean perceived control of asthma score was 38 points (SD, 4.2 points; range, 18 to 55 points).
Correlation of Perceived Control With Asthma Severity and Health Status
Greater perceived control, as measured by a higher score on the PCAQ, was associated with better scores on the SF-12 for both mental health (r = 0.16; p <
Discussion
We found that, in a cohort of insured patients with asthma, greater perceived control is associated with improved measures of physical and mental health status, better quality of life, fewer depressive symptoms, and fewer days of restricted activity due to asthma. In addition, we found that greater perceived control is associated with a decreased prospective risk of ED visits and a decreased likelihood of hospitalization for asthma.
Our results expand on our previous findings by showing that
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2012, Annals of Allergy, Asthma and ImmunologyThe influence of fear of symptoms and perceived control on asthma symptom perception
2011, Journal of Psychosomatic ResearchCitation Excerpt :There is some indirect evidence that also a feeling of control over asthma symptoms may influence asthma symptom perception. For example, perceived control over asthma symptoms and its treatment (a construct related to self-efficacy) has been shown to improve quality of life and other health outcomes in persons with asthma [8,9]. Furthermore, the effect of (psycho)therapeutic interventions, asthma education, self-management programs, and breathing training on asthma symptoms – which typically improve asthma symptoms, in spite of the absence of improvement in pathophysiological indices – has been attributed to increased feelings of control [6,10,11].
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2010, Archivos de Bronconeumologia
Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (www.chestjournal.org/misc/reprints.shtml).
The authors have reported to the ACCP that no significant conflicts of interest exist with any companies/organizations whose products or services may be discussed in this article.
Dr. Eisner was supported by grant K23 HL04201 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, with cofunding by the Social Security Administration.