The level of controlled asthma has increased in Dubai Health Authority’s Primary Health Care Sector (PHC), hence reducing the number of sick leaves taken because of asthma, according to a report in the American Institute of Science.

A quality improvement program for bronchial asthma was implemented in PHC few years ago, said Dr Nahed Monsef, consultant family physician and director of health affairs department in PHC, and the paper is the successful outcome of this programme.

Dr Moulham Saleh Ashtar, head of Clinical Effectiveness Office and Family Medicine Specialist at PHC, leader of the team who monitored the program and conducted the report, said the study is designed to investigate the level of asthma control, percentage of using inhaled corticosteroids, percentage of sick off days because of asthma and percentage of Smokers among asthmatics, to name a few.

“We found that the level of controlled asthma has reached more than 60 per cent in PHC facilities, this is above the international standards as majorities of international studies have found that less than 50 per cent control their asthma correctly” said Dr Ashtar.

Furthermore, the study reflected an increase in the correct and effective use of inhaled corticosteroids as it found that 82 per cent of patients were using it in outpatient clinics while it was 95 per cent were using it in asthma mini clinic cases. “This is remarkably higher than the international standard which is below 50 per cent in the majorities of international studies,” he added.

As for sick leaves, Dr Nahed Monsef  said that the percentage of registered asthma cases with no sick leave are above 50 per cent and reached 70-80 per cent between 2011 and 2013 which is a great achievement as she added.

“In Concern to initial assessment and follow-up forms implementation, the current study revealed that implementation is 100 per cent in asthma mini clinic and about 91 per cent in general outpatient clinics by the end of 2015,” Dr Monsef and Dr Ashtar added that this is a positive indicator to the effectiveness of PHC services.

In conclusion, Dr Monsef said that improvement of bronchial asthma care was noticed at primary health care settings in Dubai Health Authority due to the successful implementation of   the programme. – TradeArabia News Service