EDUCATION OF PARENTS OF INFANTS AND VERY YOUNG-CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA -A DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE WEE WHEEZERS PROGRAM

A randomized control trial of the Wee Wheezers asthma education progra m was conducted with 76 children <7 years of age, 31% of whom were on a medication regimen consistent with mild, 51% with moderate, and 18% with moderately severe/severe asthma. Treatment children showed improv ed morbidity at 3-month follow-up relative to the changes in the contr ols: increased symptom-free days in the preceding 2 weeks (mean change of +2.2 vs. -2.6 in the controls; p = .004) and month (+2.0 vs. -3.8; p < .02), fewer nights of parental sleep interruption in a typical we ek (+0.7 vs. +1.8; p less than or equal to .05), and a trend toward fe wer asthma sick days (-0.2 vs +0.7; p = ns). These improvements were a ccompanied by significantly better parental asthma management compared with controls vention, p less than or equal to .05) and trends toward more restrictions on smoking in the home (p < .07) and decreased pare ntal confusion about asthma treatment (p < .11). This study provides e vidence that a multisession program of asthma education for parents ca n improve parental asthma management and clinical outcomes in very you ng children and provides information on the validity and sensitivity o f various asthma outcome measures in this age group.