More than half of the adults with asthma in the US are female. Prevalence of asthma in women appears to be increasing, and morbidity and mortality rates for this group are significantly higher than rates for men. Recent studies point to unique features in women's management of asthma potentially attributable to gender. These include, for example, factors associated with hormonal cycles, (e.g. menses, pregnancy, menopause) and social roles (e.g. household tasks exposing one to environmental triggers, caregiving to children and relatives interfering with asthma management etc.) To date, no rigorously evaluated intervention expressly designed for women with asthma has been reported in the literature. The proposed study will evaluate an asthma education program in a study of 512 women with asthma modeled on a successful intervention for women with heart disease shown to improve physical and psychosocial functioning. The study will assess the impact of an innovative asthma management program based on principles of self- regulation and tailored to unique needs of women with asthma. It is expected that when compared to women randomly assigned to the treatment group will exhibit fewer gender-related asthma management problems, higher levels of physical functioning, fewer days of missed work, increased satisfaction with their quality of life, less frequent symptoms, and reduced use of health services.
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