INTRODUCTION

Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways characterized by airway inflammation, increased responsiveness to a variety of stimuli, and airway obstruction that reverses spontaneously or as a result of appropriate therapy. Symptoms of asthma include cough, wheeze, tightness of chest, shortness of breath and increased sputum production1, 2, 3, 4. Due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, the prevalence of asthma is likely to increase rapidly in the coming years. The increase is likely to be dramatic in India, which is projected to become the most populous nation by 2050. An absolute 2% increase in the prevalence of asthma in India would result in an additional 20 million people with the disease5. Medication regimens for patients with asthma are particularly vulnerable to adherence problems because of the chronic nature of the disease, the use of multiple medications, and the periods of symptoms remission. As drug experts, pharmacist can influence adherence to therapy by providing patient education⁶. A study by Tullio demonstrated the impact of pharmacist’s patient education on improving compliance with asthma through a controlled, patient-blinded study7. While considerable evidence exists demonstrating the worth of pharmaceutical care on a variety of patient outcomes, little has been provided on the impact of pharmaceutical care on QoL of asthma patients as an end-point in the health care process8. More evidences on the impact of pharmaceutical care on subjective outcomes, specifically QoL are needed. Therefore, the department of pharmacy practice, after consultation with the concerned physician, planned to conduct a study on the impact of pharmaceutical care on quality of life of patients with asthma.

OBJECTIVES  

•To evaluate the impact of pharmaceutical care services on asthma-related quality of life

• To provide asthma patients an educational session regarding their disease, treatment and how to avoid the triggers.

• To monitor other clinical outcomes like specific asthma symptoms, number of asthma attacks, number of night awakenings due to asthma and asthma severity in Asthma Research Center, Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Research at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, Coimbatore