title: Parental education on asthma severity in the emergency department and primary care follow-up rates.
abstract: Asthma is the most prevalent chronic condition affecting children and a common chief complaint in emergency departments (EDs). We aimed to improve parents' understanding of their child's asthma severity on accessing our pediatric ED for an acute asthma exacerbation. A retrospective chart review was conducted to determine outpatient follow-up rates from our ED in 2010-2011. In an attempt to educate parents at ED discharge about their child's asthma severity at presentation, we included a visual severity scale on their discharge instructions. Postdischarge telephone interviews were completed to determine postintervention follow-up rates. Asthma follow-up rates at 1 week improved from 20.8% to 50% after intervention. This difference was statistically significant after controlling for age and clinical asthma score with logistic regression (P < .0001). Offering predischarge education about a child's initial asthma severity is a simple intervention that significantly improved follow-up rates for children seen in the ED for asthma exacerbation.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA. kelli.williams@nih.gov
authors.forename: Kelli W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Word
authors.forename: Maria R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Streck
authors.forename: M Olivia
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Titus
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000379:methods*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: asthma; education; emergency department; follow-up; severity