Relationship between Bronchial Asthma Severity, Control and Self-management among Older Adults

Background: Bronchial asthma (BA) in older adults is associated with higher morbidity, frequent exacerbations, increased hospitalizations, and a decline in functional status and overall quality of life. Older asthmatic patients experience a wide range of physical and psychological burdens due to uncontrolled symptoms and disease severity. effective self-management behavior plays a critical role in empowering patients to monitor their condition, adhere to treatment, and avoid triggers, which ultimately contributes to better asthma control and improved outcomes. Aim: To identify the relationship between bronchial asthma severity, control and self-management among Older Adults. Setting: the study was conducted at the chest clinics of Damanhur chest hospital, El- Beheira Governorate, Egypt Subjects: the sample included two hundred fifty (250) older adults with BA who attending the previously mentioned study for 6 months. Four tools were used. Tool I: Socio-Demographic and Clinical Data of older adults with bronchial asthma Structured Interview Schedule. Tool II: Asthma Control Test (ACT).Tool III: Asthma Self-Management Knowledge Questionnaire (AKQ).Tool IV: Older Adults bronchial asthma Self-Management behaviors questionnaire. Results: More than two thirds (68.0%) of the studied older adults with BA had moderate BA, more than three fifths (61.6%) of them had poorly controlled BA, nearly two thirds (66.0%) of them had fair self-management knowledge, the majority (94.4%) of them had uncontrolled self-management behavior. Conclusion: A highly statistically significant relationship was found between bronchial asthma severity and control and between BA severity and self-management behavior. Also, a statistically significant relationship between control and self-management behavior was found. However, no statistically significant relationship was found between bronchial asthma severity and self-management knowledge, nor between control and self-management knowledge. Recommendations: Conduct comprehensive behavior-oriented asthma education programs tailored to older adults, focusing on translating knowledge into self-management practices such as medication adherence, symptom recognition, and lifestyle adjustments.