Success of a comprehensive school-based asthma intervention on clinical markers and resource utilization for inner-city children with asthma in Chicago: the Mobile C.A.R.E. Foundation's asthma management program.
Children with asthma in low-income households in Chicago were participants in a school-based mobile van clinic, Mobile C.A.R.E. Our objective was to investigate whether long-term follow-up changed clinical markers and resource utilization. Children were evaluated by a pediatrician in a mobile allergy clinic and classified and treated based on National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) guidelines. Intervention consisted of assessment of allergic environment with avoidance recommendations, institution of appropriate controller therapy and inhaler technique, education on asthma and asthma management, and expectations for asthma control. Over 20,000 children were screened, 2041 were examined at least once, and 677 children had four follow-up visits. With follow-up, there was a decrease in hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Symptomatic markers (daytime and nighttime cough, wheezing, and dyspnea symptoms), frequency of rescue inhaler use, and a quality-of-life score improved from baseline. These findings suggest that ongoing school interventions may reduce resource utilization and improve clinical symptoms. Primary care physicians may be able to deliver specialized care to large numbers of inner-city children with asthma.
Patel
Bina
B
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Evanston, Illinois, USA. b-patel@md.northwestern.edu
Sheridan
Phil
P
Detjen
Paul
P
Donnersberger
David
D
Gluck
Eric
E
Malamut
Karen
K
Whyte
Stephanie
S
Miller
Amy
A
Qing
Harshaw
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D002641:Chicago; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012572:School Health Services; D014505:Urban Population
D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents