Wiener klinische Wochenschrift

, Volume 127, Issue 9–10, pp 388–393 | Cite as

Impact of medical education program on COPD patients: a cohort prospective study

  • Cristian Oancea
  • Ovidiu Fira-Mladinescu
  • Bogdan Timar
  • Voicu Tudorache
original article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Summary

Background

The main objective of this study was to assess the effects of intensive medical education courses on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related rehospitalizations and emergency department visits and the secondary aim was to monitor quality of life.

Methods

This cohort prospective study included 76 group D COPD patients (pts.). Patients from the intervention group (IG, 52 pts.) underwent a program comprising two components: a comprehensive medical education program (1h/day for 5 days) and a specific drug therapy. Control group (CG, 24 pts.) received only drug therapy. Patients underwent spirometry and completed St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) at the time of inclusion and at periodical evaluations performed every three months for a year.

Results

Patients included in a medical education program showed significant decrease of exacerbation rate compared with the CG. Patients from the IG group had fewer emergency department visits within a year compared with the CG. Patients from the IG had significantly better quality of life scores (both at 3 and 6 months) compared with the CG.

Conclusions

This study reveals that an adequate medical education program is associated with a decreased rate of COPD-related hospitalizations. The implementation of a medical education program as an integrated part of therapy could lead to a more accurate self-management of the disease.

Keywords

COPD Medical education Hospitalization Exacerbation 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Cristian Lazar for excellent assistance with the collection of data and Corina Voinea for language review.

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest or any financial interests related to the research.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Wien 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Cristian Oancea
    • 1
  • Ovidiu Fira-Mladinescu
    • 1
  • Bogdan Timar
    • 2
  • Voicu Tudorache
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of PulmonologyUniversity of Medicine and Pharmacy “Victor Babes”, Clinical Hospital of Pulmonology and Infectious Diseases “Dr.Victor Babeş”TimisoaraRomania
  2. 2.Department of Biostatistics and Medical InformaticsUniversity of Medicine and Pharmacy ”Victor Babes”TimisoaraRomania

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