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Virtual Teach-to-Goal Education vs. Brief Education for Children

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Bronchospasm
Asthma
Shortness of Breath
Interventions
Behavioral: Brief Intervention
Behavioral: Virtual Teach to Goal
Registration Number
NCT04373499
Lead Sponsor
University of Chicago
Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two different ways to teach hospitalized children how to use a metered dose inhaler and to follow-up after discharge home from the hospital to determine durability of the education.

Detailed Description

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood condition and has significant adverse consequences. One in 12 United States children has asthma, resulting in 13.4 million missed school days, 1 million emergency department visits, and 140,000 hospitalizations annually.

A key barrier to self-management of asthma is improper use of respiratory inhalers, which limits disease control. Better inhaler technique is associated with improved asthma outcomes for children. Assessment and education of inhaler technique are recommended at all healthcare encounters, however it is limited in practice because it is resource intensive (both personnel and time) and lacks fidelity. Thus, low-resource interventions that accurately teach inhaler skills are needed to impact pediatric asthma outcomes.

Teach-to-Goal (TTG) is a patient-centered strategy that uses tailored rounds of teaching and assessments to ensure mastery of inhaler technique. Studies show it is effective but resource intensive. A "virtual TTG" (V-TTG) intervention represents an opportunity to deliver inhaler technique education with a high-fidelity, low-resource, and feasible strategy. The module utilizes innovative learning technology with video demonstrations and assessment questions to tailor education to each user; the cycles of assessment and education continues until satisfactory mastery is achieved.

This study evaluates the comparative effectiveness of this high-fidelity, low-resource, and feasible model (V-TTG) versus a standardized brief intervention that mimics usual care to deliver tailored inhaler technique education to children with severe asthma via a randomized clinical trial.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
70
Inclusion Criteria
  1. The child is between the ages of 5-10 years old
  2. The child is admitted for an asthma exacerbation, wheezing, or bronchospasm
  3. The child is admitted to the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Service at Comer Children's Hospital
  4. The child is prescribed albuterol
Exclusion Criteria
  1. The child/parent decline or unable to provide consent/assent, do not speak/read English
  2. The child cannot use an inhaler by themselves without a mask
  3. The child previously participated in this study
  4. The child is currently in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Brief Intervention (BI)Brief InterventionThe RA will give the patient a handout about inhaler technique and read the steps to the child.
Virtual Teach-to-Goal (V-TTG)Virtual Teach to GoalThe RA will show the patient how to use the tablet to access the education module and be available for questions about the technology / tablet but not about the content. Within the module, the child will: * answer questions about how to use the inhaler as part of a pre-video assessment. * watch a video about how to correctly use a Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) and spacer. * answer questions on the tablet to assess how well they understand how to use the inhaler. If a child answers any questions incorrectly, they will watch the video again and have another chance to answer the incorrect questions. The child will receive instruction by video one or multiple times (up to 3 times), depending on how much they understand after each round of instruction, as demonstrated by their responses to questions.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Proportion of participants with metered dose inhaler (MDI) misuse immediately after V-TTG vs. BI educationInitial study visit / baseline

Evaluate effectiveness of V-TTG as compared to BI as measured by inhaler technique post-intervention. This will provide data on the short-term effectiveness of the interventions. Each patient's inhaler technique will be assessed using validated inhaler checklists by the trained assessor.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Proportion of participants with metered dose inhaler (MDI) misuse in VTTG vs BI arms at 1 month after educationFollow-up visit at 1 month

Retention of proper inhaler technique skills

Acceptability of V-TTG among children and parents based on Likert-scale questions (1-5)Initial study visit - after completing V-TTG intervention

Questionnaires of children and parents immediately after completing the V-TTG intervention. Likert-scale questions will focus on whether children and parents like the V-TTG education, would be willing to use, and would recommend to a friend.

Usability of V-TTG among children and parents based on open-ended questionsInitial study visit - after completing V-TTG intervention

Interviews with children and parents immediately after completing the V-TTG intervention. Open-ended questions will be utilized to assess what children and parents like or do not like about the module and how it could be utilized in clinical settings, at home, at school.

Self-efficacy: QuestionnaireInitial study visit - at baseline and immediately after intervention

Questionnaire with Likert-scale questions (1-5) to assess self-efficacy about inhaler technique pre vs post intervention

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Chicago Medicine

🇺🇸

Chicago, Illinois, United States

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