An evaluation of an innovative multimedia educational software program forasthma management: Report of a randomized, controlled trial

Background. Asthma continues to be a substantial cause of morbidity in pedi atric populations. New strategies are needed to provide cost-effective educ ational interventions for children with asthma, particularly those in the i nner city. Objective. To assess the effectiveness of a multimedia educational software program about asthma. Setting. A hospital-based primary care clinic and an affiliated neighborhoo d health center. Design. Randomized, controlled trial. Population. Children 3 to 12 years old with physician-diagnosed asthma. Intervention. An interactive educational computer program, Asthma Control, designed to teach children about asthma and its management. Using a graphic display of a child going through simulated daily events, the game emphasiz es: 1) monitoring; 2) allergen identification; 3) use of medications; 4) us e of health services; and 5) maintenance of normal activity. Control group participants reviewed printed educational materials with a research assista nt. Outcomes. Acute health care use (emergency department and outpatient) was t he primary outcome. Secondary outcome measures included maternal report of asthma symptom severity, child functional status and school absences, satis faction with care, and parental and child knowledge of asthma. Results. A total of 137 families were enrolled in the study (76 interventio n, 61 control). Both intervention and control groups showed substantial imp rovement in all outcomes during the 12-month follow-up period. Aside from i mprovement in knowledge after use of the computer program, no differences w ere demonstrated between the 2 groups in primary or secondary outcome measu res. Children reported enjoyment of program use. Conclusions. This trial of an educational software program found that it di d not produce greater improvement than occurred with review of traditional written materials. Because both groups showed substantial improvement over baseline, computer-based education may be more cost-effective. Alternativel y, improvements in illness severity over time may overshadow the effects of such interventions. Rigorous comprehensive evaluations such as this are necessary to assess new interventions intended to improve management and outcomes of asthma.