Exploring asthma beliefs and behaviours in the ED
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploration of asthma related health beliefs and behaviours in the e Emergency Department
IRAS ID
292939
Contact name
Liz Steed
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Asthma is a common, multifactorial and chronic (long-term) respiratory illness that can result in acute exacerbations that can prove fatal. Acute asthma presentations to Emergency Departments (ED) are common. Once the acute exacerbation has been managed, many patients will be well enough for discharge home from the ED.
Non-adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) (preventer treatment) may be a contributing factor to recurrent need for emergency care in some patients, with a study reporting that asthma patients attending ED use ICS much less frequently than clinic patients (Alavy et al., 2006) and another study reporting overuse of short acting β2-agonist inhalers (SABA) (reliever treatment) with under-prescribing of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) inhalers in these patients (Hull et al., 2016a). Higher rates of poor asthma control lead to higher rates of asthma exacerbations which lead to higher rates of emergency admissions for asthma, and potential fatal exacerbations
Understanding the health beliefs and behaviours of people with asthma who attend ED for exacerbations, and those of the healthcare professionals in emergency departments and primary care who typically provide their care, is the first step to being able to develop interventions which consider and respond to these beliefs and hence are likely to be more successful.
The aim of this study is to explore the health beliefs and behaviours of patients and healthcare professionals relating to asthma care, and attitudes to switching long-term medications in ED, including to a Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (MART) inhaler in adult patients who have presented to the ED with their asthma.
The study will recruit patients, over the age of 16, attending the emergency department with an acute exacerbation of asthma as well as healthcare professionals who have experience of caring for patients with asthma in either the emergency department or primary care setting to participate in a single semi-structured interviews.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/LO/0665
Date of REC Opinion
8 Oct 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion