AN ASTHMA SELF-MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN, INCLUDING INSTRUCTIONIN PEAK FLOW MONITORING BY SCHOOL NURSES

A randomized trial of an instructional method was conducted in which s chool nurses taught children asthma self-management principles and ski lls, including peak flow monitoring, in 20-min, individual sessions ov er an 8-week period. Thirty-six children participated. An intervention group of 18 children received the teaching sessions. A control group of 18 children received regular care by the nurses, but no teaching se ssions. The sample included 64% boys, 69% African-Americans, and 69% M edicaid recipients. The average age of subjects was 10.2 years. The tw o groups were demographically similar, but despite random assignment, the control group had a significantly earlier age of onset of asthma a nd tended to have had more asthma attacks in the preceding year. These factors were statistically controlled in outcome analyses. Results of group com parisons showed no significant differences in the number of postintervention emergency room visits and days absent from school. H owever, nurses reported that children who practiced breathing exercise s had less anxiety during exacerbations, and the nurses' knowledge of the children's baseline peak expiratory flow rates facilitated care of the children. Nurses expressed the opinion that the individual sessio ns with students might be useful in motivating them to participate eff ectively in later group sessions. The intervention was well accepted b y students, parents, and nurses. We believe that this intervention is promising as a practical, low-cost approach to enhancing children's as thma self-management skills and warrants further testing in a larger s ample, with the intervention conducted over a longer period.