BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma among children is a common chronic disease which may have impact on quality of life. Health education is one of the strategy to improve knowledge and quality of life.OBJECTIVE: The study aims to assess the effect of health education via mobile application (app) in promoting quality of life among schoolchildren with asthma in urban Malaysia during the COVID-19 era. METHODS: A quasi-experimental, pre- and post-intervention design was used in this study involving a total of 214 students, randomly assigned into two groups (intervention group and control group). The control group received face-to-face health education while the experimental group received health education via a mobile application.RESULTS: The findings showed that the total score of quality of life (QoL) has improved from a mean total score at pre-intervention (5.31±1.27) to post-intervention (5.66±1.28) for the control group, compared with the experimental group with a mean total score of QoL at pre-intervention (5.01±1.36) and post-intervention (5.85±1.29). A comparison between the experimental and control groups using an independent t-test showed statistically significant differences in their mean QoL scores. The effect of health education via mobile application showed a statistically significant improvement in the mean QoL score from pre- to post-intervention [F (1,288) = 57.46, p = <0.01].CONCLUSION: The use of mobile technology in health education improved QoL as compared to the traditional methods of face-to-face lecture and/or handbooks among schoolchildren with asthma. Thus, educational modules using mobile applications do improve QoL.

Background: There is growing evidence that self‐management behaviour can improve outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, there are no measures available in Malay to effectively assess self-management of CKD. The aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Malay Chronic Kidney Disease Self-Management (MCKD-SM) for Malay-speaking health professionals and patients. Methods: This study was carried out in two phases: translation and cultural adaptation, and validation. Instruments were translated from English to Malay then adapted and validated in a sample of 337 patients with CKD stages 3-4 attending a nephrology clinic in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. Construct validity was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis. Reliability of the instrument was assessed by internal consistency and test‐retest reliability. The correlations between MCKD-SM and kidney disease knowledge, MCKD-SM and self-efficacy were hypothesised a priori and investigated. Results: The Malay version of the Chronic Kidney Disease Self-Management instrument has 29 items grouped into three factors: “Understanding and Managing my CKD”, “Seeking Support” and “Adherence to Recommended Regimen”. The three factors accounted for 56.3 % of the total variance. Each factor showed acceptable internal reliability with Cronbach’s α from 0.885-0.960. 2-week intra-rater test-retest reliability intraclass correlation coefficient values for all items ranged between 0.938 to 1.000. MCKD-SM scores significantly correlates with kidney disease knowledge (r = 0.366, p < 0.01) and self-efficacy (r = 0.212, p < 0.01).Conclusion: The Malay version of the CKD-SM was found to be a valid and reliable patient‐reported outcome measure of pre-dialysis CKD self-management behaviour in the Malay-speaking population.

Objectives: The objective of study to assess the effect of health education via mobile applications in promoting health-related quality of life among schoolchildren with asthma in urban Malaysia. Methods: A Quasi-experimental with two-group pre- and post-intervention design was used in this study involving a total of 214 students. The students were randomly assigned into two groups (intervention group and control group) in a pre and post intervention approach. The control group received face to face education and the experimental group had health education via mobile apps.Results: The findings showed that the total score of health related quality of life has improvement in the mean total score of health-related quality of life from pre-intervention (5.31±1.27) to post-intervention (5.66±1.28) for the control group, compared with the experimental group with a mean total score of HRQoL at pre-intervention (5.01±1.36) and post-intervention (5.85±1.29). A comparison between the experimental and control groups using an independent t-test showed statistically significant differences in the mean HRQoL scores of asthma between the experimental and control groups. The effect of health education via mobile applications showed statistically significant improvement pre and post intervention in HRQoL score [F (1,288) = 57.46, p = <0.01].Conclusion: The use of mobile technology in health education improved HRQoL as compared of traditional method of face-to-face lecture or handbooks among school children with asthma. Thus, educational module using mobile apps improves HRQoL. Trial registration: This study was registered under the Medical Research Committee, University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia under Trial MRECID. NO: 2016112-4501, Also, this study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) under Trial ID: ACTRN12614300582550

BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma among children is a common chronic disease which may have impact on quality of life. Health education is one of the strategy to improve knowledge and quality of life.OBJECTIVE: The study aims to assess the effect of health education via mobile application (app) in promoting quality of life among schoolchildren with asthma in urban Malaysia.METHODS: A quasi-experimental, pre- and post-intervention design was used in this study during the period September 2016 until April 2017 involving a total of 214 students, randomly assigned into two groups (intervention group and control group). The control group received face-to-face health education while the experimental group received health education via a mobile application.RESULTS: The findings showed that the total score of quality of life (QoL) has improved from a mean total score at pre-intervention (5.31±1.27) to post-intervention (5.66±1.28) for the control group, compared with the experimental group with a mean total score of QoL at pre-intervention (5.01±1.36) and post-intervention (5.85±1.29). A comparison between the experimental and control groups using an independent t-test showed statistically significant differences in their mean QoL scores. The effect of health education via mobile application showed a statistically significant improvement in the mean QoL score from pre- to post-intervention [F (1,288) = 57.46, p = <0.01].CONCLUSION: The use of mobile technology in health education improved QoL as compared to the traditional methods of face-to-face lecture and/or handbooks among schoolchildren with asthma. Thus, educational modules using mobile applications do improve QoL.