Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114511

Micaela H. Coady, MS, Sebastian Bonner, PhD, and Evie Andreopoulos. Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue, Fifth floor, New York, NY 10029, 212-822-7277, mcoady@nyam.org

Subsidized preschool childcare programs offer ideal settings to improve health outcomes among children with asthma in communities with high asthma prevalence. This study is a non-randomized, controlled, prospective trial being tested in preschools in three New York City neighborhoods (East Harlem, the South Bronx, and the Lower East Side). Current total enrollment at all three centers is 1,102. The study assesses the efficacy of an intervention which combines preschool-based surveillance and monitoring plus individualized asthma education to reduce asthma morbidity. Surveillance includes case identification using a validated questionnaire and a policy requiring written asthma action plans (AAPs) for children identified with probable asthma. A computerized monitoring system tracks surveillance progress and helps improve preschool staff compliance with case identification and parent compliance with obtaining AAPs. Individualized asthma education is provided to parents of children with asthma to promote adherence and a partnership between parent and doctor. In conjunction with institutional-level surveillance and monitoring, a longitudinal study in the same preschools will assess individual and neighborhood-level factors related to asthma. 191 parents of asthmatic children (age 2.8 to 5) are being recruited with interviews conducted at baseline and 4, 8 and 12-month follow-up. Data are being collected with preliminary results available in fall 2005. Baseline measures across the intervention groups will be compared and multivariate models will be used to determine (i) the impact of monitoring systems on school-wide AAP compliance rate, and (ii) the effect of asthma education on medical treatment, adherence and health outcomes of children with asthma.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

• Describe the case identification instrument, asthma action plans and monitoring procedures
• Outline the content of the asthma educational modules, with a focus on promoting controller medication use and parent/doctor partnerships
• Assess the impact of the monitoring system and individualized education on AAP compliance rate and asthma morbidity in a diverse sample of preschool children

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.