EFFECT OF SELF-REGULATORY EDUCATION ON WOMEN WITH ASTHMA

在美国，超过一半的哮喘患者是女性。妇女哮喘的患病率似乎在增加，这一群体的发病率和死亡率明显高于男子。最近的研究指出，女性哮喘管理的独特特征可能归因于性别。这些因素包括，例如，与激素周期相关的因素（例如月经、怀孕、更年期）和社会角色（例如，家务劳动使人暴露于环境触发因素，照顾孩子和亲属干扰哮喘管理等）。迄今为止，文献中还没有报道过专门为女性哮喘患者设计的严格评估的干预措施。这项拟议的研究将评估一项针对512名哮喘妇女的研究中的哮喘教育计划，该研究以心脏病妇女的成功干预为模型，显示可以改善身体和心理社会功能。这项研究将评估一项创新的哮喘管理计划的影响，该计划基于自我调节的原则，并针对哮喘妇女的独特需求量身定制。预计与随机分配到治疗组的女性相比，女性将表现出更少的性别相关哮喘管理问题，更高的身体功能水平，更少的缺勤天数，对生活质量的满意度提高，症状频率降低，并减少使用卫生服务。

More than half of the adults with asthma in the US are female. Prevalence of asthma in women appears to be increasing, and morbidity and mortality rates for this group are significantly higher than rates for men. Recent studies point to unique features in women's management of asthma potentially attributable to gender. These include, for example, factors associated with hormonal cycles, (e.g. menses, pregnancy, menopause) and social roles (e.g. household tasks exposing one to environmental triggers, caregiving to children and relatives interfering with asthma management etc.) To date, no rigorously evaluated intervention expressly designed for women with asthma has been reported in the literature. The proposed study will evaluate an asthma education program in a study of 512 women with asthma modeled on a successful intervention for women with heart disease shown to improve physical and psychosocial functioning. The study will assess the impact of an innovative asthma management program based on principles of self- regulation and tailored to unique needs of women with asthma. It is expected that when compared to women randomly assigned to the treatment group will exhibit fewer gender-related asthma management problems, higher levels of physical functioning, fewer days of missed work, increased satisfaction with their quality of life, less frequent symptoms, and reduced use of health services.