Virtual Teach-to-Goal Education vs. Brief Education for Children
Condition: Asthma; Bronchospasm; Shortness of Breath
MeSH terms: Dyspnea; Bronchial Spasm
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two different ways to teach
      hospitalized children how to use a metered dose inhaler and to follow-up after discharge home
      from the hospital to determine durability of the education.
    

Detailed description: 
      Asthma is the most common chronic childhood condition and has significant adverse
      consequences. One in 12 United States children has asthma, resulting in 13.4 million missed
      school days, 1 million emergency department visits, and 140,000 hospitalizations annually.

      A key barrier to self-management of asthma is improper use of respiratory inhalers, which
      limits disease control. Better inhaler technique is associated with improved asthma outcomes
      for children. Assessment and education of inhaler technique are recommended at all healthcare
      encounters, however it is limited in practice because it is resource intensive (both
      personnel and time) and lacks fidelity. Thus, low-resource interventions that accurately
      teach inhaler skills are needed to impact pediatric asthma outcomes.

      Teach-to-Goal (TTG) is a patient-centered strategy that uses tailored rounds of teaching and
      assessments to ensure mastery of inhaler technique. Studies show it is effective but resource
      intensive. A "virtual TTG" (V-TTG) intervention represents an opportunity to deliver inhaler
      technique education with a high-fidelity, low-resource, and feasible strategy. The module
      utilizes innovative learning technology with video demonstrations and assessment questions to
      tailor education to each user; the cycles of assessment and education continues until
      satisfactory mastery is achieved.

      This study evaluates the comparative effectiveness of this high-fidelity, low-resource, and
      feasible model (V-TTG) versus a standardized brief intervention that mimics usual care to
      deliver tailored inhaler technique education to children with severe asthma via a randomized
      clinical trial.
    

Intervention name(s): Virtual Teach to Goal; Brief Intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Virtual Teach-to-Goal is an educational module that teaches children how to use their inhaler properly; this is done with an IPAD. In the module, the child will complete a series of questions as a pre-assessment, watch a video about how to use the inhaler properly, and then answer a series of questions as a post-assessment. If a child answers any questions incorrectly, they will watch the video again and have another chance to answer the incorrect questions. The child will receive instruction by video one or multiple times (up to 3 times), depending on how much they understand after each round of instruction, as demonstrated by their responses to questions.; There is a handout that describes proper inhaler technique. The RA reads the handout to the child.
Other intervention name(s): VTTG; BI
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: We will conduct a single-site randomized clinical trial of V-TTG versus brief intervention (BI) for school-aged children (5-11 years) with severe asthma hospitalized at University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. We aim to enroll 70 participants. The project team will identify eligible children who meet inclusion criteria. Block randomization will be utilized, stratified by age (5-8 vs. 9-11 years).
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: Inhaler; Education; Asthma; Learning; Module; Virtual Teach to Goal