EFFECT OF SELF-REGULATORY EDUCATION ON WOMEN WITH ASTHMA

在美国，超过一半的成年哮喘患者是女性。女性哮喘患病率似乎在增加，这一群体的发病率和死亡率明显高于男性。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，使人暴露于环境触发因素的家务、照顾儿童和亲属干扰哮喘管理等）。迄今为止，文献中尚未报道明确为哮喘妇女设计的经过严格评估的干预措施。这项拟议的研究将评估一项哮喘教育计划，该计划在一项对512名患有哮喘的妇女进行的研究中，以一项成功的心脏病妇女干预为模型，显示出改善身体和社会心理功能。该研究将评估一项基于自我调节原则的创新哮喘管理计划的影响，并根据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妇女相比，与性别有关的哮喘管理问题较少，身体功能水平较高，缺勤天数较少，对生活质量的满意度较高，症状较少，使用卫生服务较少。

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.