학술논문

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.
Document Type
Article
Source
Health Education & Behavior; June 2008, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p376-395, 20p
Subject
Asthma risk factors
Children -- Diseases
Community health services
Environmental health
Home environment
Asthma in children
Pediatric respiratory diseases
Children's health
Asthma treatment
Public health
Mental depression
United States
Language
ISSN
10901981
Abstract
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. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.