School program helps kids control asthma
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Asthmatic children who learn about their condition at school seem to have a better handle on their symptoms, according to a new study.
The study of 26 Canadian elementary schools found that children in schools with an asthma education program were more confident in their ability to manage their symptoms. They also reported a better quality of life than asthmatic children in schools without an education program.
Researchers led by Dr. Lisa Cicutto of the University of Toronto report the findings in the medical journal Chest.
About half of the schools in the study were randomly assigned to offer a 6-week asthma education program to children with the lung condition; the rest of the schools served as a comparison group.
Children in the education group received lessons on avoiding triggers of their asthma symptoms, using medication and inhalers, and managing attacks of breathlessness and wheezing. Certified asthma educators from hospital clinics led the classes.
Two months later, these children reported greater confidence in their ability to manage their asthma compared with their peers in the comparison group. They also gave higher ratings to their quality of life—saying, for example, that their asthma was less likely to keep them from sports and other activities.
The researchers also found that in the year following the program, children in the education group were one-third less likely to make visits to the emergency room or need urgent appointments with their doctors to deal with asthma flare-ups.
“The school is an excellent environment in which to educate children with asthma and to learn about their approach to managing the condition,” Cicutto and her colleagues write.
Unfortunately, they point out, some schools offer a less-than-ideal environment for children with asthma. Certain schools in the study, they note, did not allow children to have their inhalers on hand, while some barred students from carrying any medication with them. And some school staff members said they were uncomfortable handling “asthma-related issues.”
The current findings, the researchers conclude, suggest that having an asthma educator come to the school could overcome some of these obstacles.
SOURCE: Chest, October 2005.
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