Asthma Respiratory Asthma
Conditions
Interventions
A short course of parent initiated oral prednisolone or placebo, administered as a single daily dose of 1 mg per kg in 10 mg brackets to a maximum of 50 mg daily.
Sponsors
Murdoch Children's Research Institute (Australia)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Age: 5 to 11 years old 2. Definition of asthma: a history of recurrent episodes of bronchodilator responsive wheeze. This will be determined in each case by the principal investigator. 3. Asthma severity: four or more acute asthma exacerbations in the preceding 12 months. Asthma exacerbations will be defined as a subjective worsening of lung function that failed to respond to appropriate doses of 'reliever' medication within a 6 hour period.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Receiving systemic steroids daily or on alternate days 2. Chronic disease, other than asthma, that affects pulmonary function 3. Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The mean 7-day asthma daytime symptom score. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Nocturnal symptom scores 2. Asthma free days 3. Days of school missed 4. Days of parental work missed 5. Unscheduled medical review due to acute asthma 6. Use of the participant's regular reliever medication 7. Prescription of a corticosteroid by the participant's physician for an asthma exacerbation 8. Adverse effects (including growth and behavioural changes) | — |
Countries
Australia
Outcome results
None listed