A controlled trial of an environmental tobacco smoke reduction intervention in low-income children with asthma. Behavioral counseling for reducing children's ETS exposure: implementation in community clinics. Educational outreach to general practitioners reduces children's asthma symptoms: a cluster randomised controlled trial. Randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of a respiratory health worker in reducing impairment, disability, and handicap due to chronic airflow limitation. Protecting sick children from exposure to passive smoking through mothers' actions: a randomized controlled trial of a nursing intervention. Enhancing ventilation in homes of children with asthma: pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Structured discharge procedure for children admitted to hospital with acute asthma: a randomised controlled trial of nursing practice. Evaluation of a counseling method for the prevention of child exposure to tobacco smoke: an example of client-centered communication. Reduction of environmental tobacco smoke exposure in asthmatic children. A 2-year follow-up. [Outcome of structured asthma education in childhood and adolescence]. An education intervention for childhood asthma by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers: a randomised controlled trial. Evaluation of a home-based intervention program to reduce infant passive smoking and lower respiratory illness. Benefits of an education programme on the self-management of aerosol and airway clearance treatments for children with cystic fibrosis. The Provo multicenter early high-frequency oscillatory ventilation trial: improved pulmonary and clinical outcome in respiratory distress syndrome. The PREVASC study: the clinical effect of a multifaceted educational intervention to prevent childhood asthma. Asthma management and environmental tobacco smoke exposure reduction in Latino children: a controlled trial. Evaluation of Community Action Against Asthma: a community health worker intervention to improve children's asthma-related health by reducing household environmental triggers for asthma. A randomized trial to reduce passive smoke exposure in low-income households with young children. Pilot study of a home-based asthma health education program. Incorporating family therapy into asthma group intervention: a randomized waitlist-controlled trial. Effect of feedback regarding urinary cotinine and brief tailored advice on home smoking restrictions among low-income parents of children with asthma: a controlled trial. Improving the psychological status of children with asthma: a randomized controlled trial. Improving follow-up for children with asthma after an acute Emergency Department visit. Multicenter controlled clinical trial of high-frequency jet ventilation in preterm infants with uncomplicated respiratory distress syndrome. Effect of counselling mothers on their children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke: randomised controlled trial. A randomized controlled evaluation of the effect of community health workers on hospitalization for asthma: the asthma coach. Noninvasive ventilation as a systematic extubation and weaning technique in acute-on-chronic respiratory failure: a prospective, randomized controlled study. Use of surfactant for prophylaxis versus rescue treatment of respiratory distress syndrome: experience from an Italian-Bulgarian trial. Intervention to reduce environmental tobacco smoke exposure in Latino children: null effects on hair biomarkers and parent reports. Using school staff to establish a preventive network of care to improve elementary school students' control of asthma. A randomized, controlled trial of a community-based support program for families of children with chronic illness: pediatric outcomes. The impact of a brief intervention on maternal smoking behavior. Family therapy in the treatment of severe childhood asthma. Evaluation of a community-based asthma management program in a population sample of schoolchildren. Advising parents of asthmatic children on passive smoking: randomised controlled trial.
To determine the effectiveness of a cotinine-feedback, behaviorally based education intervention in reducing environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and health-care utilization of children with asthma.
                Randomized controlled trial of educational intervention vs usual care.
                The pediatric pulmonary service of a regional pediatric hospital.
                ETS-exposed, Medicaid/Medi-Cal-eligible, predominantly minority children who were 3 to 12 years old and who were seen for asthma in the hospital's emergency, inpatient, and outpatient services departments (n = 87).
                Three nurse-led sessions employing behavior-changing strategies and basic asthma education and that incorporated repeated feedback on the child's urinary cotinine level.
                The primary measurements were the urinary cotinine/creatinine ratio (CCR) and the number of acute asthma medical visits. The secondary measurements were number of hospitalizations, smoking restrictions in home, amount smoked, reported exposures of children, and asthma control.
                The intervention was associated with a significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for more than one acute asthma medical visit in the follow-up year, after adjusting for baseline visits (total visits, 87; OR, 0.32; p = 0.03), and a comparably sized but nonsignificant OR for one or more hospitalization (OR, 0.34; p = 0.14). The follow-up CCR measurement and the determination of whether smoking was prohibited inside the home strongly favored the intervention group (n = 51) (mean difference in CCR adjusted for baseline, -0.38; p = 0.26; n = 51) (60; OR [for proportion of subjects prohibiting smoking], 0.24; p = 0.11; n = 60).
                This intervention significantly reduced asthma health-care utilization in ETS-exposed, low-income, minority children. Effects sizes for urine cotinine and proportion prohibiting smoking were moderate to large but not statistically significant, possibly the result of reduced precision due to the loss of patients to active follow-up. Improving ETS reduction interventions and understanding their mechanism of action on asthma outcomes requires further controlled trials that measure ETS exposure and behavioral and disease outcomes concurrently. The present randomized controlled trial tested the effectiveness of a behavioral counseling program for reducing children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Counseling was delivered by clinic staff as part of well-child health care services in a community clinic setting. A total of 150 mothers with children aged 4 years or younger were recruited. Parent-reported and children's urinary cotinine measures of ETS exposure were obtained at baseline, 3 months, 6 months (post-test), and 12 months (follow-up). Saliva samples were obtained from mothers who reported quitting smoking, for objective verification by thiocyanate analysis. After baseline, mothers were randomly assigned to a measures-only control condition or an intervention consisting of seven behavioral counseling sessions over 6 months. Counseling included behavioral contracting, self-monitoring, problem solving, and positive reinforcement. Results indicated acceptable test-retest reliability and validity of measures. Parent-reported measures indicated that, in both groups, children's exposure to their mothers' tobacco smoke in the home and to all tobacco smoke declined steeply from baseline to 6 months post-test, and remained essentially level during follow-up. Mothers' smoking rates followed the same pattern. Children's urinary cotinine concentrations did not show significant change over time in either group. Findings on the fidelity of treatment implementation suggest that the structure and funding of the community clinic health care system and associated staff turnover and training issues resulted in participants receiving a less efficacious intervention than in our past efficacy trials. Implications for future effectiveness trials are discussed. Childhood asthma is common in Cape Town, a province of South Africa, but is underdiagnosed by general practitioners. Medications are often prescribed inappropriately, and care is episodic. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of educational outreach to general practitioners on asthma symptoms of children in their practice.
                This is a cluster randomised trial with general practices as the unit of intervention, randomisation, and analysis. The setting is Mitchells Plain (population 300,000), a dormitory town near Cape Town. Solo general practitioners, without nurse support, operate from storefront practices. Caregiver-reported symptom data were collected for 318 eligible children (2 to 17 years) with moderate to severe asthma, who were attending general practitioners in Mitchells Plain. One year post-intervention follow-up data were collected for 271 (85%) of these children in all 43 practices. Practices randomised to intervention (21) received two 30-minute educational outreach visits by a trained pharmacist who left materials describing key interventions to improve asthma care. Intervention and control practices received the national childhood asthma guideline. Asthma severity was measured in a parent-completed survey administered through schools using a symptom frequency and severity scale. We compared intervention and control group children on the change in score from pre-to one-year post-intervention.
                Symptom scores declined an additional 0.84 points in the intervention vs. control group (on a nine-point scale. p = 0.03). For every 12 children with asthma exposed to a doctor allocated to the intervention, one extra child will have substantially reduced symptoms.
                Educational outreach was accepted by general practitioners and was effective. It could be applied to other health care quality problems in this setting. A randomised controlled trial was undertaken to determine whether a respiratory health worker was effective in reducing the respiratory impairment, disability, and handicap experienced by patients with chronic airflow limitation attending a respiratory outpatient department. The 152 adults (aged 30-75 years) who participated had a prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) below 60% predicted and no other disease. They were randomised to receive the care of a respiratory health worker or the normal services provided by the outpatient department. The respiratory health worker provided health education and symptom and treatment monitoring in liaison with primary care services. After one year there was little difference between the two groups in spirometric values (FEV1 and forced vital capacity before and after salbutamol 200 micrograms), disability (six minute walking distance and paced step test), and handicap (sickness impact profile, hospital anxiety and depression scale). Patients not looked after by the respiratory health worker were more likely to die (relative risk 2.9 (95% confidence limits 0.8, 10.2); when age and FEV1 were controlled for this risk increased to 5.5 (95% confidence limits 1.2, 24.5). Patients looked after by the respiratory health worker attended their general practitioner more frequently and were prescribed a greater range of drugs. This is the third study to have found limited measurable benefit in terms of morbidity from the intervention of a respiratory health worker. This may be due to the ability of such workers to keep frail patients alive. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a nursing educational intervention with mothers of sick children to decrease passive smoking exposure.
                Passive smoking represents a serious health hazard and is a substantial threat to child health causing major risk factors for acute respiratory illness in children. Nurses are in a vital position to conduct health education to improve children's health, which is a legitimate activity in a pediatric ward.
                A randomized controlled trial was conducted in the general paediatric wards of four major hospitals in Hong Kong. The participants were non-smoking mothers of sick children admitted to the paediatric ward and with smoking husbands living in the same household.
                A total of 1483 women were randomized into the intervention (n = 752) and control (n = 731) group. The intervention group received from the nurses (1) standardized health advice; (2) two purpose-designed booklets about preventing exposure to passive smoking and helping fathers quit; (3) a no smoking sticker; and (4) a telephone reminder 1 week later. No intervention was given to the controls. Baseline comparison showed no significant differences between the two groups in the mothers' actions to protect the children from passive smoking exposure. More mothers in the intervention group than the control group had always moved the children away when they were exposed to the fathers' smoke at home at 3-month follow up (78.4% vs. 71.1%; P = 0.01) but became non-significant at 6 and 12 months.
                A simple health education intervention provided by nurses to the mothers in a busy clinical setting can be effective in the short-term to motivate the mothers to take actions to protect the children from exposure to passive smoking produced by the fathers. Few robust studies have tested whether enhancing housing also improves health.
                To evaluate the effectiveness of installing ventilation systems, and central heating where necessary, in the homes of children with moderate or severe asthma.
                Pragmatic randomised controlled trial (RCT) in homes within Wrexham County Borough, Wales, UK.
                A pragmatic RCT was carried out, of a tailored package of housing improvements providing adequate ventilation and temperature, following inspection by a housing officer. One hundred and ninety-two children with asthma aged 5 to 14 years, identified from general practice registers, were randomised to receive this package, either immediately or a year after recruitment. At baseline, and after 4 and 12 months, parents reported their child's asthma-specific and generic quality of life, and days off school.
                The package improved parent-reported asthma-specific quality of life significantly at both 4 and 12 months. At 12 months, this showed an adjusted mean difference between groups of 7.1 points (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.8 to 11.4, P= 0.001): a moderate standardised effect size of 0.42. The generic quality-of-life scale showed reported physical problems were significantly reduced at 4 months, but not quite at 12 months, when the mean difference was 4.5 (95% CI = -0.2 to 9.1, P= 0.061). The improvement in psychosocial quality of life at 12 months was not significant, with a mean difference of 2.2 (95% CI = -1.9 to 6.4, P= 0.292). Parent-reported school attendance improved, but not significantly.
                This novel and pragmatic trial, with integrated economic evaluation, found that tailored improvement of the housing of children with moderate to severe asthma significantly increases parent-reported asthma-related quality of life and reduces physical problems. Collaborative housing initiatives have potential to improve health. Discharge planning is becoming an important part of the management of childhood asthma in hospital. Readmission to hospital, although often inevitable, might represent a failure of the opportunity for intervention presented by a brief period of supervised care in hospital.
                To examine the impact of a structured, nurse-led discharge package for children admitted to hospital with acute asthma on readmission to hospital, reattendance at the accident and emergency (A&E) department, and general practitioner consultations for asthma.
                A structured nurse-led discharge package, consisting of a 20 minute patient education programme and self management plan for children with asthma was developed on the wards of a busy children's hospital. A randomised controlled trial was conducted involving 160 children aged 2-16 years admitted for asthma over a 12 month period. Readmission and A&E reattendance's over the six months after discharge from hospital were obtained from the hospital computerised information system and general practitioner consultations from practice records.
                Children in the intervention group were significantly less likely to be readmitted to hospital in the next six months than those in the control group (12 of 80 v 30 of 80 patients), and significantly less likely to attend the A&E department (6 of 80 v 31 of 80). Significantly fewer children in the intervention group had visits to their general practitioner for problematic asthma (31 of 78 v 72 of 77 for whom data were available).
                By delivering the simplest form of education and support during a child's stay in hospital, readmissions over a six month period were reduced. The programme was designed to be suitable for administration by nursing staff on the children's wards after a brief period of training. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is an important risk factor. The aim of this study is to evaluate effects of the counseling method "Smoke-free children" that focuses on protection of infants.
                The counseling method, "Smoke-free children", has been developed and implemented at Swedish child health centers. The counseling method's point of departure is based upon a client-centered approach. Saliva cotinine samples from the mothers were collected when the child was 1-4 weeks and 3 months of age. Interviews regarding mothers' smoking habits and self-reported maternal smoking were also carried out.
                Forty-one mothers participated in the study, 26 in the intervention group and 15 in the control group. Cotinine was collected from 22 subjects in the intervention and 8 in the control group. Before the intervention, the mean cotinine level was 185 ng/mL in the intervention group and 245 ng/mL in the control group. After the intervention, cotinine levels were reduced in the intervention group (165 ng/mL) and increased in the control group (346 ng/mL). Yet, after the intervention, the mothers themselves reported more smoking in the intervention group than in the control group. Only weak correlations were found between self-reported smoking and cotinine.
                The statistical analysis supports the view that a client-centered intervention, aimed at increasing self-efficacy, exerts a positive effect on maternal smoking in the prevention of infant exposure to ETS, when applied in a routine clinical setting. To examine the long-term maintenance of a previously reported behavioral counseling intervention to reduce asthmatic children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).
                Families of asthmatic children (6 to 17 years), including at least one parent who smoked in the home, recruited from four pediatric allergy clinics.
                Participants were randomized to one of three groups: behavioral counseling to reduce ETS exposure, self-monitoring control, and usual medical care control. Counseling concluded at month 6, and the original trial ended at month 12. Two follow-up interviews occurred at months 20 and 30.
                The originally reported analysis of baseline to 12 months was reanalyzed with a more robust restricted maximum likelihood procedure. The 2-year follow-up period was analyzed similarly. Significantly greater change occurred in the counseling group than the control groups and was sustained throughout the 2 years of follow-up. Further exploratory analyses suggested that printed counseling materials given to all participants at month 12 (conclusion of the original study) were associated with decreased exposure in the control groups.
                Such long-term maintenance of behavior change is highly unusual in the general behavioral science literature, let alone for addictive behaviors. We conclude that ETS exposure can be reduced and that a clinician-delivered treatment may provide substantial benefit. From 1988 onwards inpatient asthma training courses have been conducted in Berlin and Osnabrück. A controlled study on asthma training was carried out from 1990 to 1992 at both centres with the support of the Robert Bosch Foundation. In the first intervention group a subsequent training course of 6 months' duration was conducted with the inclusion and participation of the relevant family doctors in addition to the main training course. Scrutiny of the result was done before (T1), directly after (T2) and 12 months subsequent to the training course (T3). Improvements are seen in somatic data or cost-relevant data (emergency referral to the hospital or family physician, inpatient hospital periods, referral because of mild obstruction, days of non-attendance in school due to illness, severity of asthma, incidence of symptoms, stress endurance in sports). There is also a marked improvement in the self-assessment ability of the children and in the management of asthma, as well as a decrease in the asthma-specific feeling of anxiety. Self-reliance and independence, as well as early intervention, are improved as seen by the parents, whereas on the other hand unfavourable factors such as arguments on the proper asthma therapy are diminished. Especially with regard to confidence in controls on the state of health or disease there are significant changes that are more marked in the group subjected to subsequent training than in the group without such additional training, compared with the control group. Structured asthma training exercises a strongly positive effect on the daily management of asthma bronchiale by the families on different planes of coping with the disease. These effects are enhanced by subsequent aftercare by the family physician. Intensive care in the asthma outpatient wards alone does not sufficiently modify the factors contributing to good coping with the disease. To assess the outcomes of an education intervention for childhood asthma conducted by Australian Indigenous health care workers (IHCWs).
                Randomised controlled trial in a primary health care setting on Thursday Island and Horn Island, and in Bamaga, Torres Strait region of northern Australia, April 2005 to March 2007.
                88 children, aged 1-17 years, with asthma diagnosed by a respiratory physician (intervention group, 35; control group, 53; 98% Indigenous children).
                Children were randomly allocated to: (i) three additional asthma education sessions with a trained IHCW, or (ii) no additional asthma education. Both groups were re-assessed at 12 months.
                Primary endpoint: number of unscheduled visits to hospital or a doctor caused by asthma exacerbation. Secondary outcomes: measures of quality of life (QoL) and functional severity index; asthma knowledge and understanding of asthma action plans (AAPs); and school days missed because of wheezing.
                The groups were comparable at baseline (except for asthma severity, which was adjusted for in the analysis). There were no significant differences in the primary outcome (number of unscheduled medical visits for asthma). School children in the intervention group missed fewer school days because of wheezing (100% < 7 days v 21% of those in the control group missed 7-14 days). Significantly more carers in the intervention group could answer questions about asthma medication, knew where their AAP was kept (84% v 56%), and were able to describe the plan (67% v 40%). In both the intervention and control groups (before-and-after comparison), there was a significantly reduced frequency of asthma exacerbations, as well as an improved QoL score and functional severity index, with no significant differences between the groups.
                A community-based asthma education program conducted by trained IHCWs improves some important asthma outcomes in Indigenous children with asthma.
                Australian Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN012605000718640. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether a home-based intervention program could reduce infant passive smoking and lower respiratory illness. The intervention consisted of four nurse home visits during the first 6 months of life, designed to assist families to reduce the infant's exposure to tobacco smoke. Among the 121 infants of smoking mothers who completed the study, there was a significant difference in trend over the year between the intervention and the control groups in the amount of exposure to tobacco smoke; infants in the intervention group were exposed to 5.9 fewer cigarettes per day at 12 months. There was no group difference in infant urine cotinine excretion. The prevalence of persistent lower respiratory symptoms was lower among intervention-group infants of smoking mothers whose head of household had no education beyond high school: intervention group, 14.6%; and controls, 34.0%. Adherence to recommended aerosol medicines and airway clearance techniques (ACT) for children with cystic fibrosis (CF) requires self-management skills. A multi-centre, randomized, controlled trial was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of a self-management education programme called 'Airways' for six- to 11-year old children with CF and their caregivers. Assessments were conducted immediately before and after the intervention period, and six and 12 months after the post-intervention assessment. The pen and paper education programme was completed by the child and caregiver together at home. Participants in the intervention and control groups had similar baseline characteristics. A per-protocol analysis was conducted and for variables that changed significantly, an additional intention-to-treat analysis was performed that included data from participants in the intervention group who withdrew from the study during the intervention period. The intervention group increased the percentage of prescribed aerosols taken (P < 0.001) and this was maintained at 12-month follow-up (P < 0.001). There was no change in the percentage of prescribed ACT performed, although when the child was unwell, caregivers in the intervention group increased the frequency and/or duration of ACT (P = 0.028) in the per-protocol analysis but not in the intention-to-treat analysis. Children in the intervention group increased their knowledge of ACT (P < 0.001) which was maintained at 12-month follow-up (P < 0.001) and felt more positively about their chest treatment regimens immediately following the intervention (P = 0.017) but not at 12-month follow-up. There were no significant changes in the control group for these variables over time. No significant changes occurred in the caregivers' reports of self-management behaviours and self-efficacy in either group. The positive results suggest that 'Airways' is a valuable educational tool for primary school-aged children with CF and their caregiver. To compare the hospital course and clinical outcome of preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome treated with surfactant and managed with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) or conventional mechanical ventilation (CV) as their primary mode of ventilator support.
                A prospective randomized clinical trial.
                Three community-based level III neonatal intensive care units.
                A total of 125 neonates who were 35 weeks or less estimated gestation requiring intubation and assisted ventilation for respiratory distress syndrome with arterial to alveolar oxygen ratio less than .50.
                Patients were randomized to continue CV (61 patients) or be changed to HFOV (64 patients) after exogenous surfactant administration (100 mg/kg). HFOV was used in a strategy to promote lung recruitment and maintain lung volume. Protocol respiratory care guidelines were followed; otherwise routine care was provided by each neonatal intensive care unit.
                No differences were noted in demographic features between the two study groups. The study population birth weight was 1.51 +/- .47 kg (mean +/- SD), gestational age was 30.9 +/- 2.5 weeks, and study entry age was 2 to 3 hours. Patients randomized to HFOV demonstrated the following significant findings compared with CV-treated patients: vasopressor support was less intensive; surfactant redosing was not as frequent; oxygenation improved more rapidly and remained higher during the first 7 days; fewer infants required prolonged supplemental oxygen or ventilator support; treatment failure was reduced; more patients survived without chronic lung disease at 30 days; need for continuous supplemental oxygen at discharge was less; frequency of necrotizing enterocolitis illness was lower; there were fewer abnormal hearing tests; and hospital costs were decreased. No differences were seen between the two study groups in the frequency or severity of patent ductus arteriosus, air leak, retinopathy of prematurity, or intraventricular hemorrhage. Length of hospital stay and survival to discharge were similar for HFOV- and CV-treated infants.
                When used early with a lung recruitment strategy, HFOV after surfactant replacement resulted in clinical outcomes consistent with a reduction in both acute and chronic lung injury. Benefit was evident for preterm infants both less than or equal to 1 kg and more than 1 kg. In addition, early HFOV treatment may have had a more global effect on patient health throughout the hospitalization, resulting in reduced morbidity and decreased health care cost. As asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood, much attention is directed towards primary prevention. Here, the clinical effectiveness of a multifaceted educational prevention was studied. A total of 476 high-risk children were recruited during the prenatal period by general practitioners and randomised to either: 1) a control group, receiving usual care; or 2) an intervention group in which families received instruction from nurses on how to reduce exposure of newborns to mite, pet and food allergens, and passive smoking. A total of 443 infants were followed-up for 2 yrs. At 2 yrs of age, the intervention group (n = 222) had less asthma-like symptoms, including wheezing, shortness of breath and night-time cough, than the control group (n = 221). No significant differences in total and specific immunoglobulin E were found between the groups. During the first 2 yrs of life, the incidence of asthma-like symptoms was similar in both groups; however, subanalysis revealed a significant reduction in the female, but not in the male, intervention group. In conclusion, the intervention used in this study was not effective in reducing asthma-like symptoms in high-risk children during the first 2 yrs of life, although it was modestly effective at 2 yrs. Follow-up is necessary to confirm whether the intervention can actually prevent the development of asthma. This study tested the efficacy of coaching to reduce environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure among asthmatic Latino children.
                After asthma management education, families were randomly assigned to no additional service (control condition) or to coaching for ETS exposure reduction (experimental condition).
                The study was conducted in San Diego, California.
                Two hundred four Latino children (ages 3-17 years) with asthma participated.
                Approximately 1.5 hours of asthma management education was provided; experimental families also obtained 7 coaching sessions ( approximately 45 minutes each) to reduce ETS exposure.
                Reported ETS exposure and children's urine cotinine were measured.
                Parents in the coached condition reported their children exposed to significantly fewer cigarettes than parents of control children by 4 months (postcoaching). Reported prevalence of exposed children decreased to 52% for the coached families, but only to 69% for controls. By month 4, mean cotinine levels decreased among coached and increased among control children. Cotinine prevalence decreased from 54% to 40% among coached families, while it increased from 43% to 49% among controls. However, cotinine levels decreased among controls to the same level achieved by coached families by the 13-month follow-up.
                Asthma management education plus coaching can reduce ETS exposure more than expected from education alone, and decreases in the coached condition may be sustained for about a year. The delayed decrease in cotinine among controls is discussed. This article describes the evaluation of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) community health worker (CHW) intervention to improve children's asthma-related health by reducing household environmental triggers for asthma. After randomization to an intervention or control group, 298 households in Detroit, Michigan, with a child, aged 7 to 11, with persistent asthma symptoms participated. The intervention was effective in increasing some of the measures of lung function (daily nadir Forced Expiratory Volume at one second [p = .03] and daily nadir Peak Flow [p = .02]), reducing the frequency of two symptoms ("cough that won't go away," "coughing with exercise"), reducing the proportion of children requiring unscheduled medical visits and reporting inadequate use of asthma controller medication, reducing caregiver report of depressive symptoms, reducing concentrations of dog allergen in the dust, and increasing some behaviors related to reducing indoor environmental triggers. The results suggest a CHW environmental intervention can improve children's asthma-related health, although the pathway for improvement is complex. Passive smoke exposure among children is widespread in the United States; estimates suggest that almost 40% of children who are younger than 5 years live with a smoker. Few randomized studies of passive smoke exposure reduction among children have been conducted, and the impact of interventions that have been evaluated has been limited. The objective of this study was to determine whether a motivational intervention for smoking parents of young children will lead to reduced household passive smoke exposure.
                Project KISS (Keeping Infants Safe From Smoke), a theory-driven exposure reduction intervention targeting low-income families with young children, was a randomized controlled study in which participants-smoking parents/caregivers (N = 291) who had children who were younger than 3 years and who were recruited through primary care settings-were randomly assigned to either the motivational intervention (MI) or a self-help (SH) comparison condition was used. Follow-up assessments were conducted at 3 and 6 months. The MI condition consisted of a 30- to 45-minute motivational interviewing session at the participant's home with a trained health educator and 4 follow-up telephone counseling calls. Feedback from baseline household air nicotine assessments and assessment of the participant's carbon monoxide level was provided as part of the intervention. Participants in the SH group received a copy of the smoking cessation manual, the passive smoke reduction tip sheet, and the resource guide in the mail. Household nicotine levels were measured by a passive diffusion monitor.
                The 6-month nicotine levels were significantly lower in MI households. Repeated measures analysis of variance across baseline, 3-month, and 6-month time points showed a significant time-by-treatment interaction, whereby nicotine levels for the MI group decreased significantly and nicotine levels for the SH group increased but were not significantly different from baseline.
                This study targeted a large sample of racially and ethnically diverse low-income families, in whom both exposure and disease burden is likely to be significant. This is the first study to our knowledge that has been effective in reducing objective measures of passive smoke exposure in households with healthy children. These findings have important implications for pediatric health care providers, who play an important role in working with parents to protect children's health. Providers can help parents work toward reducing household passive smoke exposure using motivational strategies and providing a menu of approaches regardless of whether the parents are ready to quit. Caring for a child with asthma can affect the parent's coping and well-being and coping strategies. This study examined the influence of a home-based asthma health education program on parental coping and quality of life.
                Randomized controlled non-blinded clinical trial.
                Northern community pediatrician's office.
                Families whose children, under the age of 11, had chronic stable asthma, and who presented to the pediatrician's office for continuing care; those with an acute exacerbation of asthma were excluded.
                Families were randomly assigned to receive either a single two-hour, standardized home-based asthma health education session or a booklet representing conventional care.
                One and three-months following the intervention, assessments were obtained for coping measured by Hymovich's Parent Perception Inventory (PPI), quality of life measured by the Pediatric Asthma Caregiver Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ) and change in asthma measured by the Caregiver Perception of Change (CPC) survey.
                Forty families were recruited and randomized; baseline characteristics were similar between groups. At the final follow-up, reduction in parental need for asthma information (p = 0.04), reduction in parental concerns (p = 0.02) and increased use of coping strategies (p = 0.04) were observed in the home-based care group. Improvement was noted in the parent's perception of their child's asthma in the home-based asthma education group (p = 0.01). Quality of life as measured by the PACQLQ remained unchanged over the intervention period (p > 0.05).
                These results suggest the use of a one-time, flexible, home-based intervention to assist families caring for children with asthma should be considered and appears effective. Asthma psychoeducational programs have been found to be effective in terms of symptom-related outcome. They are mostly illness-focused, and pay minimal attention to systemic/familial factors. This study evaluated a novel asthma psychoeducation program that adopted a parallel group design and incorporated family therapy. A randomized waitlist-controlled crossover clinical trial design was adopted. Children with stable asthma and their parents were recruited from a pediatric chest clinic. Outcome measures included, for the patients: exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), spirometry, and adjustment to asthma; and for the parents: perceived efficacy in asthma management, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety subscale, Body Mind Spirit Well-being Inventory emotion subscale, and Short Form 12 health-related quality of life scale. Forty-six patients participated in the study. Attrition rates were 13.0% and 26.0% for the active and control groups, respectively. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant decrease in airway inflammation, as indicated by eNO levels, and an increase in patient's adjustment to asthma and parents' perceived efficacy in asthma management. Serial trend analysis revealed that most psychosocial measures continued to progress steadily after intervention. Significant improvements in both symptom-related measures and mental health and relationship measures were observed. The findings supported the value of incorporating family therapy into asthma psychoeducation programs. Since most smoker parents of children with asthma are unable to quit, an alternative measure that would reduce their children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is to ban smoking in the home.
                Compared with 136 usual-care controls, 128 intervention-group parents recruited from South Australian pediatric hospital outpatient waiting rooms were given written and verbal feedback about their 1- to 11-year-old child's urinary cotinine-to-creatinine level, information booklets, and two telephone calls encouraging a ban on smoking at home.
                At 6 months, 49.2% of the intervention group reported having banned smoking in the home compared with 41.9% of controls, but the differential rate of change from baseline was not significant (P = 0.40). At follow-up, there were no significant differences between groups in the percentage reporting bans on smoking in the car, the mean reduction from baseline in total daily consumption or consumption in front of the child, children's urinary cotinine level, or parental smoking cessation.
                The intervention did not change parents' propensity to create or maintain bans on smoking in their homes or otherwise change smoking habits to reduce their children's exposure to ETS. More intensive interventions may be required to achieve change among low-income smoker parents of children with asthma.
                Copyright 2002 American Health Foundation and Elsevier Science. Children with asthma are at special risk for problems in psychological functioning, as are children with other chronic illnesses. We conducted a controlled trial of a combined education and stress management program among children ages 6 to 14 years with asthma. Eighty-one children were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group; 56 children completed data collection, 29 intervention and 27 control. Psychological status was assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) before and after the intervention, as were children's knowledge of asthma, stress (as measured by children's life events), and functional status (as indicated by such activities as school attendance, time playing with friends, and daily chore performance). Children in the intervention group had a significant improvement in the total Behavior Problems score (p less than .04) and Internalizing scale (p less than .01) on the CBCL and a significant increase in daily chores (p less than .04) compared with the control group. Before intervention, the two groups had statistically significant positive relationships between negative life events and behavior problems scores. After intervention, children in the control group still demonstrated a significant relationship between negative life events and total and Internalizing Behavior Problem scores, although participation in the intervention group negated that relationship. Children in the intervention group whose knowledge of asthma increased were more likely to report an increase in daily chores (p less than .02). We conclude that the intervention had a beneficial effect on psychological status and on children's daily activities. The effect may have occurred in part by decreasing the likelihood that perceived stress from negative life events led to poorer adjustment. To improve follow-up with primary care providers after acute Emergency Department (ED) asthma visits for children from low-income urban families.
                A prospective, randomized, controlled trial evaluated combined telephone asthma coaching and monetary incentive. The primary outcome was asthma-planning visits with primary care providers within 15 days of index ED visits. The subjects were urban parents whose children were treated for asthma in the ED and had Medicaid or no insurance.
                We enrolled 527 parents (264 control and 263 intervention). There was a significant difference ( P < .0001) between the intervention (35.7%) and control (18.9%) groups in the proportion of children who had asthma-planning visits and decreased mean nights/days with asthma symptoms by 4.36 intervention and 3.31 control at 2 weeks. The proportions of children with asthma-planning visits and acute asthma care visits during the 16-day to 6-month period were similar for both groups.
                Telephone coaching and a monetary incentive significantly increased the proportion of low-income urban parents who brought their children for asthma-planning visits, and decreased asthma symptoms shortly after asthma ED visits. The intervention did not increase subsequent asthma-planning visits or decrease ED visits or hospitalizations. To test the hypothesis that high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) will reduce the incidence and/or severity of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and acute airleak in premature infants who, despite surfactant administration, require mechanical ventilation for respiratory distress syndrome.
                Multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial of HFJV and conventional ventilation (CV). Patients were to remain on assigned therapy for 14 days or until extubation, whichever came first. Crossover from CV to HFJV was allowed if bilateral pulmonary interstitial emphysema or bronchopleural fistula developed. Patients could cross over to the other ventilatory mode if failure criteria were met. The optimal lung volume strategy was mandated for HFJV by protocol to provide alveolar recruitment and optimize lung volume and ventilation/perfusion matching, while minimizing pressure amplitude and O2 requirements. CV management was not controlled by protocol.
                Eight tertiary neonatal intensive care units.
                Preterm infants with birth weights between 700 and 1500 g and gestational age <36 weeks who required mechanical ventilation with FIO2 >0.30 at 2 to 12 hours after surfactant administration, received surfactant by 8 hours of age, were <20 hours old, and had been ventilated for <12 hours. Outcome Measures. Primary outcome variables were BPD at 28 days and 36 weeks of postconceptional age. Secondary outcome variables were survival, gas exchange, airway pressures, airleak, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), and other nonpulmonary complications.
                A total of 130 patients were included in the final analysis; 65 were randomized to HFJV and 65 to CV. The groups were of comparable birth weight, gestational age, severity of illness, postnatal age, and other demographics. The incidence of BPD at 36 weeks of postconceptional age was significantly lower in babies randomized to HFJV compared with CV (20.0% vs 40.4%). The need for home oxygen was also significantly lower in infants receiving HFJV compared with CV (5.5% vs 23.1%). Survival, incidence of BPD at 28 days, retinopathy of prematurity, airleak, pulmonary hemorrhage, grade I-II IVH, and other complications were similar. In retrospect, it was noted that the traditional HFJV strategy emphasizing low airway pressures (HF-LO) rather than the prescribed optimal volume strategy (HF-OPT) was used in 29/65 HFJV infants. This presented a unique opportunity to examine the effects of different HFJV strategies on gas exchange, airway pressures, and outcomes. HF-OPT was defined as increase in positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) by >/=1 cm H2O from pre-HFJV baseline and/or use of PEEP of >/=7 cm H2O. Severe neuroimaging abnormalities (PVL and/or grade III-IV IVH) were not different between the CV and HFJV infants. However, there was a significantly lower incidence of severe IVH/PVL in HFJV infants treated with HF-OPT compared with CV and HF-LO. Oxygenation was similar between CV and HFJV groups as a whole, but HF-OPT infants had better oxygenation compared with the other two groups. There were no differences in PaCO2 between CV and HFJV, but the PaCO2 was lower for HF-LO compared with the other two groups. The peak inspiratory pressure and DeltaP (peak inspiratory pressure-PEEP) were lower for HFJV infants compared with CV infants.
                HFJV reduces the incidence of BPD at 36 weeks and the need for home oxygen in premature infants with uncomplicated RDS, but does not reduce the risk of acute airleak. There is no increase in adverse outcomes compared with CV. HF-OPT improves oxygenation, decreases exposure to hypocarbia, and reduces the risk of grade III-IV IVH and/or PVL. To test the efficacy of behavioural counselling for smoking mothers in reducing young children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
                Randomised double blind controlled trial.
                Low income homes in San Diego county, California.
                108 ethnically diverse mothers who exposed their children (aged <4 years) to tobacco smoke in the home.
                Mothers were given seven counselling sessions over three months.
                Children's reported exposure to environmental tobacco smoke from mothers in the home and from all sources; children's cotinine concentrations in urine.
                Mothers' reports of children's exposure to their smoke in the home declined in the counselled group from 27.30 cigarettes/week at baseline, to 4.47 at three months, to 3.66 at 12 months and in the controls from 24.56, to 12.08, to 8.38. The differences between the groups by time were significant (P=0.002). Reported exposure to smoke from all sources showed similar declines, with significant differences between groups by time (P=0.008). At 12 months, the reported exposure in the counselled group was 41.2% that of controls for mothers' smoke (95% confidence interval 34.2% to 48.3%) and was 45.7% (38.4% to 53.0%) that of controls for all sources of smoke. Children's mean urine cotinine concentrations decreased slightly in the counselled group from 10.93 ng/ml at baseline to 10.47 ng/ml at 12 months but increased in the controls from 9.43 ng/ml to 17.47 ng/ml (differences between groups by time P=0.008). At 12 months the cotinine concentration in the counselled group was 55.6% (48.2% to 63.0%) that of controls.
                Counselling was effective in reducing children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Similar counselling in medical and social services might protect millions of children from environmental tobacco smoke in their homes. To test whether community health workers are able to reach low-income parents of African American children hospitalized for asthma and to reduce rehospitalization among them.
                A randomized controlled evaluation of usual care vs 2-year asthma coach intervention.
                An urban children's hospital and the surrounding community.
                A population-based sample of 306 children hospitalized for asthma met the inclusion criteria of being 2 to 8 years of age, of African American ethnicity, and having Medicaid coverage. Of these, 200 were contacted and 191 recruited with commitment to evaluation activities but, in order to assess reach, no commitment to participating in intervention.
                Coaches reinforced basic asthma education and encouraged key management behaviors through home visits and phone calls tailored to parent's readiness to adopt management practices and emphasizing a nondirective supportive style (cooperative and accepting of feelings and choices).
                The reach of intervention to parents, contacts with coaches, and rehospitalization over 2 years based on hospital records.
                Within 3 months of randomization to the asthma coach group, 89.6% of parents had at least 1 substantive contact with the coach, with an average of 21.1 contacts per parent over the 24-month intervention. The proportion of children rehospitalized was 35 of 96 (36.5%) in the asthma coach group and 55 of 93 (59.1%) in the usual care group (P < .01), controlling for parental education and child age, sex, and hospitalization in the year prior to the index hospitalization. In surveys, parents indicated the importance of the nondirective approach to support.
                An asthma coach can reach low-income parents of African American children hospitalized for asthma and reduce rehospitalization among the children. Prolonged duration of endotracheal mechanical ventilation (ETMV) is associated with an increased morbidity and mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) as a systematic extubation and weaning technique to reduce the duration of ETMV in acute-on-chronic respiratory failure (ACRF). Among 53 consecutively intubated patients admitted for ACRF, we conducted a prospective, randomized controlled trial of weaning in 33 patients who failed a 2-h T-piece weaning trial (2 h-WT) although they met simple criteria for weaning. Conventional invasive pressure support ventilation (IPSV) was used as the control weaning technique in 16 patients (IPSV group), and NIV was applied immediately after extubation in 17 patients (NIV group). The two weaning groups were similar for type of chronic respiratory failure (CRF), pulmonary function data, age, Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II), and severity of ACRF on admission. The characteristics of the two groups were also similar at randomization. In the IPSV group, 12 of 16 patients (75%) were successfully weaned and extubated, versus 13 of 17 (76.5%) in the NIV group (p = NS). NIV like IPSV significantly and similarly improved gas exchange in relation to that achieved during 2 h-WT (p < 0.05). The duration of ETMV was significantly shorter in the NIV (4.56 +/- 1.85 d) than in the IPSV group (7.69 +/- 3.79 d) (p = 0. 004). NIV also reduced the mean period of daily ventilatory support, but increased the total duration of ventilatory support related to weaning (3.46 +/- 1.42 d, versus 11.54 +/- 5.24 d with NIV; p = 0. 0001). Most patients in the IPSV group developed complications related to ETMV and/or the weaning process, but the difference was not significant (nine of 16 versus six of 17). The durations of ICU and hospital stays and the 3-mo survival were similar in the two groups. In conclusion, NIV permits earlier removal of the endotracheal tube than with conventional IPSV, and reduces the duration of daily ventilatory support without increasing the risk of weaning failures. NIV should be considered as a new and useful systematic approach to weaning in patients with ACRF who are difficult to wean. To show if surfactant applied in different social-sanitary realities as prophylaxis of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is equally useful and able to reduce mortality and incidence of 3-4 radiological grade RDS.
                Two neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in Italy, one NICU in Bulgaria and one NICU in Romania were involved in a randomized controlled clinical trial of prophylaxis vs rescue treatment of RDS. Babies with gestational age 26-30 wks were randomized before birth to prophylaxis in the delivery-room with 200 mg/kg of porcine surfactant (prophylaxis) or to routine assistance (control). Subsequently the babies developing RDS requiring mechanical ventilation and fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) > or = 0.4 to maintain PaO2 about 50 mmHg were allowed to be treated rescue with 200 mg/kg of the same surfactant. To reach end-points of reducing mortality by 40% and incidence of radiological grade 3-4 RDS a total number of 174 patients were required.
                Due to logistic, practical and social-political problems the study was interrupted after enrollment of 93 babies (61 in Italy and 32 in Bulgaria). The Romanian centre did not start the study because it was impossible in the scheduled times to equip it for mechanical ventilation of the newborn infants. Analysis done on an intention to treat basis did not show significant reductions of mortality and 3-4 radiological grade RDS, even if there was a trend towards a reduction in the babies given prophylaxis. A significantly lower number of babies given prophylaxis required a subsequent rescue treatment compared to controls (p < 0.001). There was no difference in other complications such as intraventricular haemorrhage, air-leak syndromes and infections between prophylaxis and control infants. As regards pulmonary gas exchange, the PaO2/FiO2 ratio was significantly improved in the babies given prophylaxis for the first 12 hours of life vs the controls.
                Even if the study was terminated before term, the analysis of the data shows that prophylaxis with surfactant is equally effective in different social-clinical conditions to improve pulmonary gas-exchange, especially in the first critical hours of life of premature babies. To evaluate the effectiveness of a lay delivered intervention to reduce Latino children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The a priori hypothesis was that children living in households that were in the intervention group would have lower exposure over time than measurement only controls.
                A two group, randomised control trial was conducted.
                Areas of San Diego county with a large Latino population.
                143 Latino parent-child pairs.
                Trained bicultural and bilingual Latina lay community health advisors, or promotoras, conducted problem solving aimed at lowering the target child's exposure to ETS in the household. Six home and telephone sessions were delivered by the promotoras over a four month period.
                Outcome measures were collected at baseline, immediately post-intervention, three months post-intervention, and 12 months post-intervention. Four outcomes were considered: (1) parent's paper-and-pencil reports of the child's past month exposure; (2) hair samples from the child analysed for past month nicotine; (3) hair samples from the child analysed for past month cotinine; and (4) per cent confirmed reducers.
                There were no significant condition-by-time interactions, the term indicative of a differential intervention effect. Significant or near significant time main effects were seen for children's hair cotinine, per cent confirmed reducers, and, in particular, parent reports of exposure.
                Applying a lay promotora model to deliver the behavioural problem solving intervention unfortunately was not effective. A likely explanation relates to the difficulty of delivering a relatively complex intervention by lay women untrained in behaviour change theory and research methods. School-based asthma interventions delivered by nonschool staff have been successful but are limited in their reach because of the cost and effort of bringing in outside educators and their inability to establish improved communication about asthma between schools, families, and primary care providers (PCPs). To address these problems, Columbia University and the New York City Department of Education and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene undertook a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of a comprehensive school-based asthma program. In this intervention, school nurses were trained to facilitate the establishment of a preventive network of care for children with asthma by coordinating communications and fostering relationships between families, PCPs, and school personnel. PCPs also received training regarding asthma management. There was limited support for this model. While case detection helped nurses identify additional students with asthma and nurses increased the amount of time spent on asthma-related tasks, PCPs did not change their medical management of asthma. Few improvements in health outcomes were achieved. Relative to controls, 12-months posttest intervention students had a reduction in activity limitations due to asthma (-35% vs -9%, p < .05) and days with symptoms (26% vs 39%, p = .06). The intervention had no impact on the use of urgent health care services, school attendance, or caregiver's quality of life. There were also no improvements at 24-months postintervention. We faced many challenges related to case detection, training, and implementing preventive care activities, which may have hindered our success. We present these challenges, describe how we coped with them, and discuss the lessons we learned. Children with chronic illnesses have a heightened risk for mental health problems.
                To develop, implement, and evaluate child outcomes of a 15-month, community-based, family-support intervention designed to reduce risk for poor adjustment and mental health problems in children with 1 of 4 chronic illnesses (diabetes mellitus, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, or moderate to severe asthma) and their mothers.
                Randomized, controlled clinical trial design with multiple measures of mental health based on both child and parent reports taken 1 year apart.
                Community-based intervention linked to subspecialty and general pediatric clinics and practices in Baltimore, Md.
                One hundred thirty-six mothers and children aged 7 to 11 years with diabetes mellitus, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, or moderate to severe asthma.
                The program, provided by "experienced mothers" and child life specialists, included telephone contacts, face-to-face visits, and special family events.
                Outcomes were measured using the following instruments: the Personal Adjustment and Role Skills Scale III, the Children's Depression Inventory, the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and the Self-Perception Profile for Children.
                The experimental group's mean adjustment score increased over the intervention period while the control group's mean adjustment score decreased. Analysis of variance demonstrated that the intervention had a significant main effect on postintervention adjustment controlling for baseline scores (P =.01). Using a cutoff score indicating maladjustment, the percentage of experimental group children in the maladjustment range fell from 19% at baseline to 10% after the intervention; the percentage of control group children in the maladjustment range rose from 15% at baseline to 21% after the intervention. The effect of the intervention was more pronounced for children who had low physical self-esteem than for those who had moderate to high physical self-esteem at the beginning of the program.
                Our results demonstrate modest positive effects of a family support intervention in promoting the adjustment of children with selective chronic health conditions. Including child life specialists in a community-based intervention may be especially salient for children with chronic illnesses who have low physical self-esteem. The intervention had a similar outcome for all diagnostic groups, suggesting that it could be effective for children with any chronic illness and implemented in a variety of pediatric settings. To determine if mothers receiving a smoking cessation intervention emphasizing health risks of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) for their children have a higher quit rate than 1) mothers receiving routine smoking cessation advice or 2) a control group.
                Randomized, controlled trial.
                Primary care center in a large urban children's hospital.
                Four hundred seventy-nine mothers were randomly assigned to a smoking cessation intervention either aimed at their child's health or their own health, or to a control group receiving safety information.
                Smoking status, stage of change, cigarettes/day, location smoking occurred, and knowledge of ETS effects.
                Complete data (baseline and both follow-ups) were available for 166 subjects. There was no impact of group assignment on the quit rate, cigarettes/day, or stage of change. The Child Health Group intervention had a sustained effect on location where smoking reportedly occurred (usually outside) and on improved knowledge of ETS effects.
                Further research is needed to devise more effective methods of using the pediatric health care setting to influence adult smoking behaviors. Eighteen children with severe, chronic bronchial asthma were randomly divided into two groups. The families in one group received family therapy while the others served as a control group in a controlled family therapy study. Later the control families were also offered therapy in a before-after therapy design. All children were followed for 3 1/2 yr. Asthma symptoms, functional impairment and the use of drug (from diaries) were rated in ten different ways during eight months before and eight months after the family therapy. Improvement in the clinically most important variable, i.e. general pediatric assessment, was greater in the children in the family therapy group compared to the control group (p less than 0.05) Twelve children who received family therapy showed significant improvement after treatment concerning general pediatric assessment (p less than 0.01), clinical grading (p less than 0.05), peak expiratory flow (p less than 0.05), days with functional impairment/yr (p less than 0.05), no. of doses of inhaled Beta-2-agonists/month (p less than 0.01) and nights when Beta-2-agonists were inhaled (p less than 0.05). The children who only received conventional medical treatment showed no significant change in asthma symptoms. We draw the conclusion that family therapy may represent a valuable therapeutic tool in the management of severe asthma. To assess the effect of a community-based management program, incorporating both education and treatment directed at children, parents, doctors, pharmacists, community nurses and school teachers.
                The effect of this intervention in a population sample of 65 children with a wide range of morbidity due to asthma was compared with a control group of 55 children living in a different area. Both groups were re-evaluated concurrently after three and six months.
                Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1); bronchial responsiveness to histamine measured as the provoking dose causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PD20FEV1) and as dose-response ratio (DRR); Airflometer variability; symptom frequency; and knowledge of asthma. Morbidity was measured by parents using a self-administered questionnaire and included days absent from school and unscheduled doctor or emergency room visits.
                At three months, the intervention group had a significant improvement in knowledge of asthma compared with both their baseline and the control group's change in knowledge. Also, FEV1 improved in this group and symptoms which limit activity decreased significantly. However, the largest improvements were recorded at the six-month follow up. In the intervention group, bronchial responsiveness and night cough were reduced significantly and FEV1 was improved, compared with both baseline measurements and the control group. Knowledge of asthma also improved significantly from baseline, and unscheduled doctor or emergency room visits were reduced.
                These improvements in this group of children, many of whom had mild asthma, verify that community-based management programs can be effective in treating childhood asthma. To investigate whether parents of asthmatic children would stop smoking or alter their smoking habits to protect their children from environmental tobacco smoke.
                Randomised controlled trial.
                Tayside and Fife, Scotland.
                501 families with an asthmatic child aged 2-12 years living with a parent who smoked.
                Parents were told about the impact of passive smoking on asthma and were advised to stop smoking or change their smoking habits to protect their child's health.
                Salivary cotinine concentrations in children, and changes in reported smoking habits of the parents 1 year after the intervention.
                At the second visit, about 1 year after the baseline visit, a small decrease in salivary cotinine concentrations was found in both groups of children: the mean decrease in the intervention group (0.70 ng/ml) was slightly smaller than that of the control group (0.88 ng/ml), but the net difference of 0.19 ng/ml had a wide 95% confidence interval (-0.86 to 0.48). Overall, 98% of parents in both groups still smoked at follow up. However, there was a non-significant tendency for parents in the intervention group to report smoking more at follow up and to having a reduced desire to stop smoking.
                A brief intervention to advise parents of asthmatic children about the risks from passive smoking was ineffective in reducing their children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. The intervention may have made some parents less inclined to stop smoking. If a clinician believes that a child's health is being affected by parental smoking, the parent's smoking needs to be addressed as a separate issue from the child's health.
While brief counselling interventions have been identified as successful ifor adults when delivered by physicians, this cannot be extrapolated to adults as parents in child health settings. However, there is limited support for more intensive counselling interventions for parents in such contexts. There is no clear evidence of differences between the respiratory, non-respiratory ill child, well child and peripartum settings as contexts for reduction of children's ETS exposure.