The effects of patient education programs on medication use among asthma and COPD patients: a propensity score matching with a difference-in-difference regression approach

摘要

BackgroundAdherence to medication is one of the critical determinants of successful management of chronic diseases including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Given that poor adherence with self-management medication is very common among asthma and COPD patients, interventions that improve the use of chronic disease management medications for this patient group have potential to generate positive health outcomes. In an effort to improve asthma and COPD care, the Lung Association of Saskatchewan has implemented an intervention by providing access to effective and high quality asthma and COPD education for both patients and health care professionals along with increasing access to spirometry.By evaluating the impacts of this intervention, our purpose in this paper is to examine the effectiveness of spirometry use, and asthma and COPD education in primary care setting on medication use among asthma and COPD patients.