A Comparison of Management Strategies of Asthma in Pregnancy

The goal of this investigation is to determine how physicians manage pregnant patients with asthma exacerbations using patient vignettes. Vignettes or case studies have been shown in various areas of medicine to be an effective tool for surveying provider's knowledge and application of evidence-based guidelines (9,10,11,12). Specifically, we plan on surveying physicians-in-training and attending physicians in Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine at the Ohio State University Werner Medical Center via electronic mail. Electronic mail addresses will be obtained from each Department or Division's Training Program Director. We have presented multiple, fictional, case-based scenarios and short, multiple-choice questions where the responder indicates how they would manage the case. No existing patient data will be used in the scenarios. In addition, demographic data of the physician including length of time in practice, numbers of patients seen with asthma exacerbations per month, and comfort level with the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Guidelines (1). The survey is attached. Physicians who do not respond to the first electronic mail will be sent one follow-up electronic mail with a second request to complete the survey. Results from the questionnaires completed by each department/devision of physicians will be compared and analyzed for significant differences. The results will then be used to look for educational opportunities to improve the care of pregnant patients with asthma exacerbations.