Effectiveness of Community-Based Nursing Intervention for Asthmatic Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Preventive care can support and direct the nurse's efforts to deliver an asthma intervention for children as part of nursing interventions. Despite the significance, there have been few meta studies demonstrating the effectiveness of nursing interventions for the treatment of childhood asthma that includes only randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Therefore, this meta study was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of nursing care interventions for the management of childhood asthma.

Methods: STATA 14.2 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA) was used to conduct the meta-analysis. From 1964 to July 2022, we searched Medline, the Cochrane library, EMBASE, Scopus Science Direct, and Google Scholar. Depending on the type of outcome, a meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model, pooled weight mean difference (WMD), standardised mean difference (SMD), and/or risk ratio (RR) with stated 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs). PRISMA guidelines were followed for conducing this study.

Results: Nine studies were analysed in total. The pooled RR for emergency visits was 0.49 (95%CI: 0.32 to 0.77), for hospitalizations was 0.64 (95%CI: 0.21 to 1.89). The pooled SMD for frequency of asthma attacks was -2.88 (95%CI: -3.22 to -2.54), quality of life was 0.49 (95%CI: 0.22 to 0.75) and asthma control was 1.25 (95%CI: -0.77 to 3.28).

Conclusion: Paediatric asthma patients who received nursing interventions reported an improved quality of life and a decrease in emergencies and acute attacks due to asthma. Future RCTs should focus on uncovering the short- and long-term effects of these nursing interventions to provide optimal management and care.