Asthma
Conditions
Keywords
urban, adolescents, African American, web-based, computer tailoring, school based
Brief summary
The purpose of this project is to refine and further evaluate an online asthma management and education program for urban teenagers. This project is a continuation of Puff City I, a project piloting and evaluating a tailored, school-based, computerized asthma education program for urban teenagers. In this second phase of research, a new version of software (Puff City II) will be created that will target resistance to change and relapse, and using a tested, theory-based approach to student recruitment, conduct a randomized trial to test the efficacy of this new software.
Detailed description
BACKGROUND: Teenagers are among an age group that has seen dramatic increases in deaths from asthma. In Detroit, asthma death rates for teenagers are high relative to younger ages, despite a higher prevalence in the latter age group. Early studies suggest that inadequate asthma management plays a significant role in these grim statistics. DESIGN NARRATIVE: The study hypothesis is that students randomized to the intervention group will have lower asthma-related morbidity as determined by fewer emergency department visits and hospitalizations at the time of the 12-month follow-up. Based on a second hypothesis of better functional status among students randomized to the intervention group, secondary outcomes include fewer symptom-days, symptom-nights, school days missed, and days of restricted activity at the time of the 12-month follow-up. In addition, it is hypothesized that students in the intervention group will have higher scores on the Juniper Pediatric Quality of Life scale at 12 months. Finally, it is hypothesized that intervention students would exhibit positive changes in adherence behavior, having a rescue inhaler nearby, and smoking at the 12-month follow-up.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALTailored Web-based Asthma Management
Web-based asthma management
BEHAVIORALGeneric web-based asthma education
4 computer sessions over a period of 180 days
Sponsors
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Henry Ford Health System
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* A physician diagnosis of asthma AND recent asthma symptoms, health care utilization for asthma, and/or use of medication (or refills of medication) to alleviate asthma symptoms OR * No physician diagnosis of asthma AND positive responses to items selected from the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Children (ISAAC) survey AND asthma symptoms similar to those used in the Expert Panel II for classification of mild intermittent asthma
Exclusion criteria
* Does not meet asthma symptom criteria
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Asthma-related morbidity | Measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months with the latter being the timepoint of interest |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Symptom-days | Measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months with the latter being the timepoint of interest |
| Symptom-nights | Measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months with the latter being the timepoint of interest |
| School days missed | Measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months with the latter being the timepoint of interest |
| Days of restricted activity | Measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months with the latter being the timepoint of interest |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed