A practitioner-based asthma intervention program with African American inner-city school children.
BACKGROUND
Asthma is the most prevalent chronic illness, affecting more than 7 million children younger than 17 years. Asthma has become a leading public health concern because of the dramatic rise in the incidence of this disease during the past 15 years, particularly in minority populations. This study tested a two-part intervention on selected psychosocial and health outcomes of 8- to 13-year-old inner city minority students with asthma.


METHODS
The intervention consisted of participation in an asthma education program (Open Airways) followed by 5 monthly visits with a nurse practitioner. The total sample of 52 children was composed of 28 children in the treatment group who received the intervention and 24 children who served as a control group.


RESULTS
Students in the treatment group scored significantly higher than the control group over time on measures of asthma knowledge, asthma self-efficacy, general self-care practices, and asthma self-care practices. No significant differences were found between the two groups on health outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
A school-based intervention program can improve psychosocial outcomes for inner-city minority children with asthma. Recommendations for future research and clinical practice are discussed.
Velsor-Friedrich
Barbara
B
Niehoff School of Nursing, Chicago, Illinois 60626, USA. bvelsor@luc.edu
Pigott
Theresa
T
Srof
Brenda
B
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000193:education* / Q000208:ethnology; D001249:Asthma / Q000208:ethnology / Q000451:nursing*; D002648:Child; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012573:School Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012648:Self Care; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*