Avaliação da qualidade de vida de pacientes asmáticos atendidos em um hospital de Fortaleza, Ceará

Abstract

Several studies have reported that educational interventions aimed to help asthma patients for the clinical management of disease, reduction of direct costs and improved quality of life. The administration of inhaled medications is a key component in the clinical treatment of patients with lung disease. The effectiveness of these drugs depends not only the formulation and the type of device, but also the ability for the patient, to perform the correct inhalation technique. This study aimed to assess the quality of the life of asthmatic patients treated by the Program for Asthma Control and Record Control Hard Messejana Hospital (PROCAM). Was used to collect information, a questionnaire has been validated and described in the literature: the AQLQ (The Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire), which was administered to 240 asthma patients (adults) regularly monitored by PROCAM, from February to April 2012. Most patients interviewed were female (72,1%) with a mean age of 52,5 ± 14,3 years and more than one year of treatment (77,9%). In the questionnaire on quality of life, we analyzed the frequency of the four domains ( physical limitation, symptoms, environmental stimuli and emotional function). It was observed that most feel limiting to exercise more vigorous activities, being the most common symptoms related to environmental stimuli and emotional function is shown as a component that can trigger an asthma attack. The data obtained indicate that an education program directed at patients with asthma care focused on therapy should be an integral part of these patients.