Family-Focused, Stress-Reduction Program to Improve the Health Care of Urban Children With Asthma
Condition: Asthma
MeSH terms: Asthma
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 2

Summary: 
      Stress and anxiety can negatively affect children with asthma. Reducing the stress of
      asthmatic children and their families may lead to improved asthma care and fewer asthma
      symptoms in the children. The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a
      family-focused asthma education program aimed at reducing stress levels and improving asthma
      care for urban children with asthma.
    

Detailed description: 
      Asthma is a serious, chronic illness that affects 9 million children in the United States.
      Common asthma symptoms include wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing.
      Asthma attacks can be triggered by a variety of irritants, including mold, pollen, tobacco
      smoke, or allergies. Stress can also cause asthma attacks, and children who experience high
      levels of stress and anxiety tend to have poor asthma management skills and health outcomes.
      Additionally, family stress can affect the ability of families and caregivers to provide
      adequate care to children with asthma. Currently, few asthma education programs are aimed at
      helping both children and parents manage stress. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the
      effectiveness of a stress-reduction family intervention on improving health outcomes in
      asthmatic children.

      Study researchers will first conduct focus groups with children who have asthma, their
      parents, and community health organizations to identify barriers to effective asthma
      management and sources of stress for caregivers; a family-focused intervention will then be
      developed. Fifty families with an asthmatic child will be enrolled and randomly assigned to
      one of two groups. Group 1 participants will partake in four to six home-based, family
      educational sessions over a 4-month period. Sessions will focus on asthma education and
      stress management techniques for the entire family. One of these sessions may take place at
      the child's doctor's office as a way to focus on improving parent-doctor communication. Group
      2 participants will partake in a single home-based asthma education session. Study visits for
      all participants will occur at baseline, Month 4, and 6 months post-intervention. At these
      timepoints, asthma self-management will be assessed through family interviews and observation
      of the child's inhaler use; tobacco exposure levels will be measured with a urine test; and
      family functioning and stress levels will be assessed with questionnaires.
    

Intervention name(s): Project ASPIRE Home-Based Family Intervention; Project ASPIRE Enhanced Treatment As Usual
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Home-based psychoeducational family intervention jointly conducted by psychology postdoctoral fellow and respiratory therapist over 4 months; Psychoeducational family intervention addressing the written asthma action plan during a single home visit, conducted by a respiratory therapist
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment