Increasing Adherence to Asthma Medication in Urban Teens

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of two home-based asthma interventions in increasing adherence to daily asthma controller medication.

Detailed Description
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BACKGROUND: Low-income, minority teenagers have disproportionately high rates of asthma morbidity, including excess risk of emergency department (ED) care, hospitalization, and death from asthma, compared to white adolescents. Research by this group and others has documented that non-adherence with asthma treatment regimens is common among high-risk, inner city families with asthma, and that this poor adherence with prescribed therapies plays a significant contributing role in asthma morbidity. Inner-city adolescents with asthma are at particular risk of non-adherence, yet this population remains understudied. While asthma self-management training has shown promise in achieving some improvement in adherence with asthma, there are few intervention studies explicitly targeting adolescents, particularly those in the inner-city. Urban children typically assume primary control over their asthma management during late childhood/early adolescence. At the same time, adolescents' efforts to achieve autonomy and peer-acceptance may result in increased health risk behaviors, including poor asthma self-management. Developmentally-appropriate asthma self-management interventions are needed that target the unique challenges of adolescence. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a promising interventional approach that uses a client-centered, non-directive approach for enhancing motivation to change health behaviors. MI techniques are developmentally consistent with the needs of early adolescents. MI does not assume that health will be the most important factor motivating the teen, but rather acknowledges and incorporates other motivators that are within the context of the teen's life, thus this intervention strategy has the flexibility to adapt to the unique life circumstances and stressors faced by urban adolescents. We propose to evaluate the relative effectiveness of a MI-focused self-management intervention (MI+SM) compared to a self-management (SM) intervention containing asthma education and self-monitoring strategies in a sample of 226 children age 10-15 years treated for asthma in the ED. Our primary hypothesis is that the MI+SM, as compared to SM alone, will result in greater improvement in medication adherence at 3- and 6-months post-randomization, as measured by electronic medication monitoring. Secondary outcomes include self-reported medication adherence, symptoms free days, urgent health care utilization for asthma, and caregiver/adolescent quality of life. DESIGN NARRATIVE: Participants will be randomly assigned to 1) Self-Management (SM; Standard Care Group) or 2) Motivational Interviewing plus Self-Management Training (MI+SM; Intervention Group). The duration of the intervention condition will be 5 home visits over 2 months. Follow-up measures will be collected from families at 3- and 6-months post-randomization.

Official Title
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Motivating Asthma Adherence in Urban Teens

Conditions
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Asthma

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Self-Management Training
* Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing (MI)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Resident of Baltimore City Diagnosis of asthma or reactive airway disease Current emergency department visit or hospitalization for asthma Prescribed a daily asthma controller medication Exclusion Criteria: Plans to move outside of the Baltimore City area within 1 year from study entry Current participation in another asthma education study Families unwilling or unable to participate Families who were enrolled and participated in the pilot study

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 10 Years
Maximum Age: 15 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: 1<br>Self-Management (SM) (Standard Care Group) | Behavioral: Self-Management Training<br>* Asthma education and self-monitoring strategies<br>|
| Experimental: 2<br>Motivational Interviewing plus Self-Management Training (MI+SM) | Behavioral: Self-Management Training<br>* Asthma education and self-monitoring strategies<br>Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing (MI)<br>* Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a promising interventional approach that uses a client-centered, non-directive approach for enhancing motivation to change health behaviors.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Adherence to asthma controller therapy as measured by electronic medication monitoring |  | Measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Number of symptom-free days |  | Measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months | 
| Emergency department utilization and hospitalization |  | Measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months | 
| Caregiver/adolescent quality of life |  | Measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months |