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The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control

by Basma M.E. Mohamed 1,* ,  Nabila Laz 2 ,  Haitham Saeed 1 ,  Wesam G. Ammari 3  and  Hoda Rabea 1
1
Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt
2
Chest Department, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt
3
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Madaba (AUM), Jordan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
IJCMR  2025 3(4):65; https://doi.org/10.61466/ijcmr3040005
Received: 21 March 2025 / Accepted: 26 July 2025 / Published Online: 1 August 2025
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Abstract

Background: Children asthma control complex due to the chronic nature of asthma and its interference with children’s quality of life, patient counseling about asthma nature and inhaler use are considered the cornerstone in asthma control. We evaluated various patient counseling techniques for optimizing the use of pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) to enhance asthma medication delivery and asthmatic state.

Methods: A random cohort of nonsmoking children with asthma aged 11-19 years was collected from an outpatient clinic; all diagnosed using Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) diagnosis guidelines. The patient's asthma status and pMDI use were assessed during the initial structured interview, and three groups were randomly divided for different counseling techniques, as the following, traditional verbal counseling only was applied to Group 1, while Group 2 received advanced counseling just via two smartphone applications without verbal corrections for inhaler use errors and Group 3 received the advanced counseling using two smartphone applications alongside with verbal correction of the inhaler use mistakes. We monitored the three groups for two consecutive months using the forced expiratory volume in the one second to the forced vital capacity of the lungs ratio (FEV1/FVC) ratio, Asthma Control Test (ACT), Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ), and GINA control assessment Questionnaire.

Results: A total of 102 children with asthma n=102 were divided in to three counseling groups, each group is consisted of 34 patients, n=34. We found that, in term of FEV1/FVC 2nd month interview, the advanced verbal counseling group was superior to the advanced alone counseling group p=0.016. In term of ACT 2nd month interview, the advanced verbal counseling group was superior to the verbal only counseling group p=0.023. In term of ACQ 8th week interview the advanced alone counseling group was superior to the verbal alone counseling group p=0.018. From the 2-month follow-up course using FEV1/FVC ratio, ACT, ACQ, and GINA control assessment questionnaires, the three counseling techniques significantly improved asthma control for all groups p<0.001.

Conclusion: The combination of smartphone applications based advanced counseling alongside with the verbal correction of the inhaler use errors resulted in a better children asthma control than using a single counseling approach.

Keywords: Children asthma counseling; Asthma control test; Asthma Control Questionnaires; Advanced counseling; Pressurized Metered Dose Inhalers;
Copyright: © 2025 by Mohamed, Laz, Saeed, Ammari and Rabea. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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APA Style
Mohamed, B. M., Laz, N., Saeed, H., Ammari, W. G., & Rabea, H. (2025). The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control. International Journal of Clinical Medical Research, 3(4), 65. doi:10.61466/ijcmr3040005
ACS Style
Mohamed, B. M.; Laz, N.; Saeed, H.; Ammari, W. G.; Rabea, H. The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control. International Journal of Clinical Medical Research, 2025, 3, 65. doi:10.61466/ijcmr3040005
AMA Style
Mohamed B. M., Laz N., Saeed H. et al.. The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control. International Journal of Clinical Medical Research; 2025, 3(4):65. doi:10.61466/ijcmr3040005
Chicago/Turabian Style
Mohamed, Basma M.; Laz, Nabila; Saeed, Haitham; Ammari, Wesam G.; Rabea, Hoda 2025. "The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control" International Journal of Clinical Medical Research 3, no.4:65. doi:10.61466/ijcmr3040005
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ACS Style
Mohamed, B. M.; Laz, N.; Saeed, H.; Ammari, W. G.; Rabea, H. The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control. International Journal of Clinical Medical Research, 2025, 3, 65. doi:10.61466/ijcmr3040005
AMA Style
Mohamed B. M., Laz N., Saeed H. et al.. The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control. International Journal of Clinical Medical Research; 2025, 3(4):65. doi:10.61466/ijcmr3040005
Chicago/Turabian Style
Mohamed, Basma M.; Laz, Nabila; Saeed, Haitham; Ammari, Wesam G.; Rabea, Hoda 2025. "The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control" International Journal of Clinical Medical Research 3, no.4:65. doi:10.61466/ijcmr3040005
APA style
Mohamed, B. M., Laz, N., Saeed, H., Ammari, W. G., & Rabea, H. (2025). The impact of different counseling techniques on children asthma control. International Journal of Clinical Medical Research, 3(4), 65. doi:10.61466/ijcmr3040005

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