A Nurse-Led Web-Based Home Asthma Education Program for Children and their Families: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Education is the most essential component for effective asthma control and is endorsed by guidelines worldwide. However, multiple caregivers are often jointly involved in child care, and educating them is often a challenging task. This study determines the effectiveness of a web-based asthma education program in enhancing knowledge, attitude and practice of caregivers and reducing unscheduled hospital visits of children for asthma. A two-arm, randomized controlled trial was carried out between November 2018 and December 2019. Child-parent dyads were recruited when the children (4–11 years of age) were admitted due to asthma exacerbations. A nurse-led web-based home asthma education program was developed and implemented before discharge. Outcomes included parents' knowledge, attitude and practice regarding asthma and frequency of unscheduled visits and readmissions in children. 112 child-parent dyads were enrolled. The parents' knowledge, attitude and practice and the number of unscheduled visits of the children were found to be significantly different between two groups at different time points (Ps < 0.001) with a large effect size (Cohen's d > 0.8). This intervention was shown to be an effective strategy to educate caregivers who are jointly involved in their child's asthma control after discharge from hospital. The Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, World Health Organization (ChiCTR1800019706). •This study provided evidence on what constitutes a good web-based education programme and what helps to maintain such practices on asthma control.•The programme is comprised of multimedia education materials, gamified teaching materials, tailored family-centered discussion sessions.•The proposed intervention (WB-HAEP) is effective in enhancing asthma knowledge, attitude and practice on asthma.•Unscheduled visits and readmissions due to asthma exacerbations can be reduced by the proposed WB-HAEP.•The components of this WB-HAEP may be introduced and adopted to other clinical areas in the future for other chronic diseases.