An Evaluation of the Open Airways for Schools Program

Abstract

Objectives: Study objective: This study assessed the impact of an Open Airways for Schools Program for children with asthma that is delivered in their school by trained asthma volunteers sponsored by the local American Lung Association. Methods: Design: Retrospective. Setting: Eight elementary schools located throughout Tucson, Arizona. Participants: A total of 77 pre and post questionnaires for children in grades 3 to 5 with asthma, 30 pre and post questionnaires for parents, and 6 demographic questionnaires for school nurses. Measurements and results: Data collection involved obtaining pre and post questionnaires from the sponsoring agency measuring outcomes in knowledge of when and how much medication to take, triggers of asthma, steps to take upon wheezing, and social aspects such as the ability to talk with an adult or teacher when having problems. The dependent variables for the pre and post parent questionnaires include unscheduled visits to providers, and whether the child knows how much medication to take. Paired t test was used to determine whether differences existed between pre and post child and parent questionnaires. Nurse questionnaires were analyzed and reported to see the change in nurse visits. The results are reported as the mean post/pre ± SD. The child questionnaire data for outcomes in knowledge include: when to take medicine (0.14+/-0.35 vs 0.34+/-0.61;p=0.015), how much medicine to take upon wheeze/cough (0.38+/- 0.71 vs 0.67+/-0.80;p=0.003), identifying home triggers (0.36+/-0.68 vs 0.58+/-0.80;p=0.051), identifying school triggers (0.53+/-0.75 vs 0.70+/-0.80;p=0.228), and steps to take upon wheezing (0.21+/-0.48 vs 0.46+/-0.74;p=0.018). Social aspects data include: ability to talk to adult about asthma (0.17+/-0.45 vs 0.29+/-0.58;p=0.159), talk to teacher about asthma (0.28+/-0.57 vs 0.30+/-0.67;p=0.858), and talk to teacher about taking things out of classroom that make them wheeze (0.43+/-0.17 vs 0.77+-0.85;p=0.19). The parent questionnaire data include: unscheduled provider visits (2.83+/- 4.01 vs 3.61+/-7.15;p=0.508) and quantity of medicine to take with incomplete data. The nurse questionnaire showed a mean number of visits at 92.5+/-64.09. Results: See above Conclusions: Conclusion: Providing an asthma education program to children in school can significantly increase outcomes in knowledge of when and how much medicine to take upon wheezing, and the steps to follow when wheezing occurs. Additionally, areas to focus on in the program include identification of triggers at home and school, as well as the ability to talk with an adult or teacher regarding asthma.