Do Patients of Subspecialist Physicians Benefit from Written Asthma Action Plans?

Asthma clinical guidelines suggest written asthma action plans are essential for improving self-management and outcomes. To assess the efficacy of written instructions in the form of a written asthma action plan provided by subspecialist physicians as part of usual asthma care during office visits. A total of 407 children and adults with persistent asthma receiving first-time care in pulmonary and allergy practices at 4 urban medical centers were randomized to receive either written instructions (n = 204) or no written instructions other than prescriptions (n = 203) from physicians. Using written asthma action plan forms as a vehicle for providing self-management instructions did not have a significant effect on any of the primary outcomes: (1) asthma symptom frequency, (2) emergency visits, or (3) asthma quality of life from baseline to 12-month follow-up. Both groups showed similar and significant reductions in asthma symptom frequency (daytime symptoms [P