Giving Asthma Support to Patients (GASP) program evaluation

Background and objective The Giving Asthma Support to Patients (GASP) program, developed in New Zealand, guides practice nurses to provide structured asthma care. This study assessed GASP in the context of Australian general practice. Methods The study used a pre-post design and was conducted in 19 practices in Western Sydney and Illawarra/Shoalhaven. Patients aged 5-70 years with moderate-to-severe asthma were invited to participate. Of the 289 patients who attended an initial GASP consultation, 153 attended for one or more follow-up visits. Outcomes were exacerbations requiring medical intervention in the previous 12 months, asthma control in the previous four weeks and quality of asthma care at the time of GASP consultation. Results There was a decrease in patients having one or more exacerbations (113 [74%] versus 80 [52%], P <0.001), and an increase in patients with good asthma control (21 [14%] versus 40 [26%], P <0.005). There was no significant change in the quality of asthma care variable. Discussion Implementation of the GASP program was associated with improvement in asthma outcomes.