BACKGROUND: Perennial rhinitis is common and often results in substantial, potentially avoidable, impairment of quality of life. Quality of rhinitis care has been shown to be sub-optimal in general practice. Rigorous evaluation of educational interventions for healthcare professionals using randomized controlled trials is very uncommon. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of standardized allergy training for healthcare professionals on patients' disease-specific quality of life. METHODS: Patients with clinician diagnosed perennial rhinitis and/or a prescription for relevant nasal medication were recruited from general practice. Following baseline measurement of quality of life using the validated rhino-conjunctivitis questionnaire (RQLQ), patients were centrally randomized to receive care from an allergy-trained primary healthcare professional or routine care. RQLQ was measured again at 13 months after randomization. RESULTS: Process measures revealed that the training was well received. 202 patients were included in the intention-to-treat analysis and 157 in the per-protocol analysis. There was a 0.23 greater mean improvement in quality-of-life scores in the intervention group when compared with controls (P=0.08) in the intention-to-treat analysis, this increasing to a 0.3 greater mean improvement if confined to a per-protocol analysis (P=0.05). The intention-to-treat analysis showed that 39/101 (39%) in the intervention group showed a clinically significant > or =0.5 improvement in RQLQ compared with 28/101 (28%) of controls (risk difference=11%, number needed to treat=9, P=0.1). CONCLUSIONS: Standardized allergy education given to primary healthcare professionals leads to modest improvements in disease-specific quality of life in patients with perennial rhinitis.
BACKGROUND: Perennial rhinitis is common and often results in substantial, potentially avoidable, impairment of quality of life. Quality of rhinitis care has been shown to be sub-optimal in general practice. Rigorous evaluation of educational interventions for healthcare professionals using randomized controlled trials is very uncommon. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of standardized allergy training for healthcare professionals on patients' disease-specific quality of life. METHODS: Patients with clinician diagnosed perennial rhinitis and/or a prescription for relevant nasal medication were recruited from general practice. Following baseline measurement of quality of life using the validated rhino-conjunctivitis questionnaire (RQLQ), patients were centrally randomized to receive care from an allergy-trained primary healthcare professional or routine care. RQLQ was measured again at 13 months after randomization. RESULTS: Process measures revealed that the training was well received. 202 patients were included in the intention-to-treat analysis and 157 in the per-protocol analysis. There was a 0.23 greater mean improvement in quality-of-life scores in the intervention group when compared with controls (P=0.08) in the intention-to-treat analysis, this increasing to a 0.3 greater mean improvement if confined to a per-protocol analysis (P=0.05). The intention-to-treat analysis showed that 39/101 (39%) in the intervention group showed a clinically significant > or =0.5 improvement in RQLQ compared with 28/101 (28%) of controls (risk difference=11%, number needed to treat=9, P=0.1). CONCLUSIONS: Standardized allergy education given to primary healthcare professionals leads to modest improvements in disease-specific quality of life in patients with perennial rhinitis.
Authors: Monica J Fletcher; Jane Upton; Judith Taylor-Fishwick; Sonia A Buist; Christine Jenkins; John Hutton; Neil Barnes; Thys Van Der Molen; John W Walsh; Paul Jones; Samantha Walker Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2011-08-01 Impact factor: 3.295
Authors: Terry Porteous; Sally Wyke; Sarah Smith; Christine Bond; Jill Francis; Amanda J Lee; Richard Lowrie; Graham Scotland; Aziz Sheikh; Mike Thomas; Lorraine Smith Journal: Trials Date: 2013-07-15 Impact factor: 2.279
Authors: Victoria S Hammersley; Rob A Elton; Samantha Walker; Christian H Hansen; Aziz Sheikh Journal: NPJ Prim Care Respir Med Date: 2014-06-05 Impact factor: 2.871
Authors: G K Scadding; S R Durham; R Mirakian; N S Jones; S C Leech; S Farooque; D Ryan; S M Walker; A T Clark; T A Dixon; S R A Jolles; N Siddique; P Cullinan; P H Howarth; S M Nasser Journal: Clin Exp Allergy Date: 2008-01 Impact factor: 5.018