Asthma
Conditions
Keywords
Asthma; Children; Cohort study; Corticosteroids
Brief summary
The aim of the prospective cohort study is to: (1) document the magnitude of response to oral corticosteroids administered to children presenting to the emergency department with moderate or severe asthma and (2) quantify clinically available potential determinants of the response to corticosteroids, such as age, gender, triggers of the index exacerbation, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), gene polymorphisms, and their interactions.
Detailed description
The objective of the large multicentre cohort study is to quantify the response to oral corticosteroids in children aged 1 to 17 years presenting to the ED with a moderate or severe asthma exacerbation. The main outcome is hospital admission within 72 hours of the oral corticosteroid administration. Secondary outcomes include the change in Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM), length of active treatment and other markers of response to therapy in the ED as well as markers of recovery over the next 10 days.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
St. Justine's Hospital
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
1 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Subject will be eligible if he/she: 1. is aged 1 to 17 years, 2. has not received any oral, IM or IV corticosteroid within the last 5 days? 3. Presents to the hospital emergency department with an acute episode of cough, wheezing and/or dyspnea? 4. Has asthma as defined as one or more of the following 6 criteria: (i) prior diagnosis of asthma made by a physician; OR (ii) prior documented episode of acute cough, wheezing and/or dyspnea with significant response to inhaled β2-agonists or to oral corticosteroids; OR (iii) in a child aged \<2 years, 3 or more episodes of cough, wheezing and/or dyspnea, including the index visit; OR (iv) previous lung function tests showing significant reversibility post-bronchodilation (≥12% FEV1 or ≥25% Rrs at 4 to 8 Hz); OR (v) a positive provocation test (PC20 ≤8 mg/mL or Provocation Dose (to increase Rrs by 50% or more (PD50) ≤8 mg/mL), OR (vi) the current episode diagnosed or suspected of asthma by the emergency physician? 5. have moderate or severe airway obstruction, defined as a Paediatric Respiratory Asthma Measure (PRAM) score \>3 at baseline,
Exclusion criteria
* Patient will be excluded if : 1. he/she has another chronic respiratory condition (such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia or cystic fibrosis); 2. there is a reasonable suspicion of bronchiolitis or foreign body aspiration; 3. he/she has a prior history of hypersensitivity to salbutamol, ipratropium bromide or oral prednisone/prednisolone; 4. he/she has a relative or absolute contraindication to receiving oral corticosteroids such as recent exposure to varicella or live vaccine in past 14 days, 5. there is confirmed or suspected pregnancy.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital admission | 72 hours after oral corticosteroids administration | Hospital admission or Length of active treatment for 8 or more hours after the oral corticosteroid administration or ED return visit associated with hospital admission within 72 hours after the oral corticosteroid administration or ED return visit associated within 72 hours with length of active treatment for 8 or more hours after the oral corticosteroid administration |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Length of active treatment in hospital | 8 hours after oral corticosteroid administration | — |
| Meeting the severity criteria for admission | Within 4 hours of oral corticosteroid administration | Proportion of children with a PRAM score ≥4 within 4 hours of oral corticosteroid administration |
| PRAM profile in the ED | Within 4 hours of oral corticosteroid administration | Area under the curve of the PRAM measured hourly for the time of oral corticosteroid (OCS) until 4 hours after OCS |
| Time to meeting discharge criteria | Within 8 hours of oral corticosteroid administration | Time until PRAM score ≤ 3 |
| Change in respiratory resistance | Within 4 hours of oral corticosteroid administration | Change in respiratory resistance between baseline and disposition will be documented on the MasterScreen Impulse Oscillometry (Cardinal Health Canada, Montreal, Canada) using previously described standardized techniques in cooperative children aged ≥3 years. (measured in a subset of individuals) |
| Cumulative reliever use | Within 7 days of the index ED exacerbation | Cumulative number of puffs of reliever medication as recorded daily on the Asthma flare-up diary for children |
| Duration of use of rescue ß2-agonists | Within 7 days of the index ED exacerbation | Duration of use of rescue ß2-agonists as recorded on the Asthma flare-up diary for children |
| Unscheduled visits for asthma | Within 7 days of the index ED exacerbation | unscheduled visits for asthma as reported by parents and confirmed by medical charts. |
| Symptom score | Within 7 days of the index ED exacerbation | Area under the curve of symptoms measured daily on the validated Asthma flare-up diary for children |
| Duration of asthma symptoms | Within 7 days of the index ED exacerbation | Duration of symptoms measured daily on the validated Asthma flare-up diary for children |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adverse events | Within 7 days of the index ED exacerbation | Number of children with vomiting, serious Infection, psychosis, and mood disturbances |
| Serious Adverse Health Events | Within 7 days of the index ED exacerbation | Number of children with adverse events requiring hospitalization, prolonged hospitalization, life threatening, other medically important events or associated with significant disability or incapacity |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed