Impact of an asthma educational intervention programme on teachers

Objective: Our objective was to measure the impact of an educational intervention program on teacher's knowledge about asthma and its management. Material and method: Before and after quasi-experimental study, with control group, of an educational intervention, which had as its aim to improve the teacher's knowledge of asthma and its management, was conducted in some schools of San Sebastian (Gipuzkoa), Spain. The Newcastle Asthma knowledge Questionnaire (NAKQ) was used as a measuring tool, and an adaptation of the asthma, sport and health program was used as an educational intervention. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the total score of the questionnaire before and after the intervention, and the McNemar test was performed to compare the percentages of correct answers to each item. The Mann-Whitney U test was also performed to compare the baseline score and the score at three months between the intervention group and control group. The size of the effect and the standardised mean response were studied. Results: A total of 138 teachers from 6 schools, which were chosen at random (study group), and 43 teachers in the control group participated in the study. In the study group, the mean score of the NAKQ before the educational intervention was 16.1 +/- 3.4 points, with a median of 16 (range 7 to 23). After the intervention the mean score increased to 22.3 +/- 4.1, with a median of 23 (range, 6 to 29). The mean difference in the overall score of the NAKQ was 7.0 +/- 4.2 points, with a median of 8 (range, -2 to17). Furthermore, the size of the effect was 2.0 (> 0.8) and the standardised mean response was 1.7. After 3 months of the intervention the mean score of the NAKQ was 21.4 +/- 3.0 points, with a median of 22 (range, 12 to 29) which was significantly higher than the score obtained before the intervention (P <.001) and slightly lower than the score obtained immediately after the intervention, assuming a size of the effect of 1.6 and a standardised mean response of 1.2. In the control group, the level of knowledge did not change modified and was lower than the level of the intervention group (P <.001). Conclusions: An educational intervention program conducted among teachers significantly increases their knowledge of asthma. Moreover, the increase reduces slightly but maintains its higher level for at least 3 months. In spite of the fact that some aspects of knowledge improved with the educational intervention, they were not optimal. (c) 2012 Asociacion Espanola de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.