A Pilot Study to Improve Sleep Quality in Urban High School Students With Asthma

Sleep quality among adolescents is poor and asthma's impact is significant among adolescents. Asthma control is an important risk factor for poor sleep. In addition, poor asthma control, poor sleep hygiene, and poor sleep quality are more likely in urban settings. Interventions to promote sleep quality by targeting both asthma control and sleep hygiene in this vulnerable population are lacking. We developed a novel intervention -- Managing Asthma and Sleep in Teenagers (MAST) -- and in this phase of the study will evaluate the intervention's feasibility and acceptability and assess the preliminary evidence of intervention effects on improving sleep quality in urban high school students in NYC and Providence, RI. This study is a multi-site trial and collaboration between Columbia University Medical Center and Rhode Island Hospital (RIH).

The investigators hypothesize that: (1) The intervention will be feasible and acceptable as evidenced by adolescents' high rates of adherence to the treatment protocol, and their high satisfaction ratings and positive responses to exit interviews; and (2) relative to controls, over 2-months post-intervention adolescents randomized to the intervention will have significant improvement on the following outcomes assessing sleep quality: (1) sleep efficiency; (2) night awakenings; and (3) sleep duration. If hypotheses are supported, the investigators will explore whether treatment effects on sleep quality outcomes are mediated through changes in asthma self-management (e.g., confidence to care for asthma, steps taken to prevent the onset of symptoms, taking controller medication), and changes in sleep hygiene and behaviors (e.g., consistent bedtime and wake time, consistent sleep location, fewer sleep distractions in child's bedroom, decreased caffeine use). The investigators will also compare MAST to the evidence-based intervention -- Asthma Self-Management for Adolescents (ASMA) -- to explore if whether an asthma intervention integrated with sleep hygiene components enhances sleep quality above and beyond a behavioral, guideline-based asthma intervention.

To test how well MAST works, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 84 urban adolescents (42 = NYC; 42 = RI) with persistent asthma and whose typical sleep duration is at/below what is recommended for this age group. Students will be recruited from high schools in New York City and in Greater Providence, RI, two areas of high asthma prevalence for urban adolescents. Students within schools will be randomized to one of three study arms: (1) MAST -- the new intervention consisting of both asthma and sleep hygiene components; (2) the original ASMA program; and (3) an informational and referral control group. The investigators will follow students for two months post-intervention and explore differences in feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary intervention effects by site.

Following consent, students and their parents/caregivers will complete baseline interviews, and will be randomized into one of the three study conditions. The investigators will deliver the intervention to the students at their respective schools, and will interview students and their parents/caregivers when the intervention ends and two months later. At each assessment, to assess sleep objectively, students will be asked to wear actigraph watches (Model AW2; Mini Mittler) for 2 weeks. During this two week period, they will also complete asthma and sleep logs where they record on a daily basis if they had asthma symptoms, took asthma medication, had asthma-related limitations, and information about their sleep; these logs are completed in the morning and the evening and should take less than 5 minutes each time to complete.