Improving Asthma Care for Minority Children in Head Start

BACKGROUND:

Asthma-related morbidity and mortality are disproportionately high among low-income African American children. The effects of asthma are particularly harsh in very young children and their families, resulting in high rates of emergency department care, hospitalization, decreased quality of life, and the risk of fatal asthma. Research suggests that the contributing factors to this high morbidity include under-use of asthma primary preventive care, sub-optimal medical management, and inappropriate asthma management behaviors. Despite the importance of early and regular asthma preventive care for children, this goal has proved elusive. Head Start programs offer an ideal venue for accessing high-risk, low-income preschool children and improving asthma morbidity. The study will test the hypothesis that removing barriers to preventive asthma care and facilitating communication between parents and primary care providers (PCP) are necessary prerequisites to optimally influence caregiver's asthma management practices. The study will remove barriers by the use of Breathmobile, a community-based service that is specifically designed to deliver asthma screening and special consultation directly to families and children in high-risk neighborhoods. In addition, the study will evaluate a caregiver/PCP communication intervention designed to facilitate communication between parents and PCPs about a child's asthma severity and recommended therapy.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

This two times two modified factorial study design will compare the following in their effectiveness in reducing asthma morbidity and improving asthma management: a Breathmobile intervention combined with a Facilitated Asthma Communication intervention (FACI); a FACI alone; the Breathmobile intervention alone; or a control group. A total of 360 Head Start students ages 2 to 6 with symptomatic doctor-diagnosed asthma will be recruited. The primary study outcome measure will be the number of symptom-free days over a period of 12 months. Secondary outcomes include health care utilization (i.e., emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and primary care visits), asthma medications, parent asthma-related quality of life, parent asthma management practices, and cost-effectiveness. The study will test the hypothesis that a FACI combined with the Breathmobile intervention will be the most effective in improving parent and PCP management of the child's asthma and in reducing asthma morbidity.