Outcomes of Pharmaceutical Care for Children with Asthma in Pediatric Ward at Hatyai Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of pharmaceutical care services on asthma-related knowledge, medication adherence, and inhaler technique accuracy among pediatric asthma patients or their caregivers. Methods: A quasi-experimental, one-group pretest–posttest study was conducted among pediatric asthma patients aged 1–15 years admitted to the pediatric wards of Hatyai Hospital and/or their parents or caregivers. Data collection included asthma-related knowledge assessment using a structured questionnaire before and after education provision, observation of inhaler technique, and evaluation of adherence to controller inhalers. Results: Asthma-related knowledge scores among 106 participants significantly improved after education provision (P < 0.001) in most domains, except for knowledge regarding asthma symptoms and the impact of cigarette smoke, where baseline knowledge was already high. The accuracy of metered-dose inhaler (MDI) with spacer technique increased significantly in several steps. However, some areas still required further education, such as attaching the canister and priming the spacer before first use. Overall, 62.5% of patients demonstrated good adherence. However, common non-adherence included forgetting doses and not using medication at scheduled times. The 28-day readmission rate was low, with only two cases (1.89%), both of which were newly diagnosed patients rather than relapses. Conclusions: Pharmacist-provided education was associated with improvements in parent or caregivers’ knowledge on asthma and inhaler technique. Medication adherence among patients who used controller inhalers was generally good. In addition, the 28-day readmission rate was low, which may reflect the overall quality of pediatric asthma care during the study period.