Using MEDUCATION to Improve Asthma Medication Device Technique

Asthma affects almost 10% of children and is the most common health condition reported by North Carolina public schools. Latino children have higher rates of uncontrolled asthma and more asthma-related emergency department visits than their White counterparts. No studies have evaluated Latino children's asthma device technique; poor technique can compromise medication delivery to the lungs.

The TraCS engagement core has spent the last 18 months developing the Expanding Networks for Latinos through Community Engagement (ENLaCE) network, which is comprised of over 15 organizations in the Greensboro area. The core would now like to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether ENLaCE can be used to recruit Latino children into a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) to improve their asthma medication device technique. This would be the first assessment of whether ENLaCE can be used to recruit patients.

MEDUCATION, an NIH-funded project developed by Polyglot Systems, Inc., has developed asthma device technique videos in Spanish and English. The member groups of ENLaCE believe the MEDUCATION videos are highly relevant for the Greensboro Latino community. Children will be recruited from two pediatric ENLaCE clinics in Greensboro and randomly assigned to watch device technique videos (experimental group; n=50) or a nutrition video (control group, n=50) in Spanish or English after a regularly-scheduled medical visit. Children's device technique will be assessed before and after the visit. Process evaluation data will also be collected.