Comparing Self-Management Programs with and without Peer Support among Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Clinical Trial

Aboumatar et al discuss their study on whether adding peer support to healthcare professional (HCP) support to help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) self-management results in better health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and less acute care use. A two-arm randomized controlled trial was performed at one academic and one community hospital and their affiliate clinics. The study population included patients aged more than 40 years who had been diagnosed with COPD by a physician and were currently receiving daily treatment for it. Two self-management support strategies were compared over 6 months. The results revealed that adding peer support to HCP support to help patients self-manage COPD did not further improve HRQoL in this study. However, it did result in fewer COPD-related acute care events during the 6-month intervention period.