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Contact: 210-567-3080 |
Asthma project helps children (7/3/95)Children with asthma are literally breathing easier in San Antonio thanks to a three-year "Children's Asthma Project." Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio led by principal investigator and pediatrician Pamela Wood, MD, have evaluated, treated and helped educate 145 young asthma patients and their families. In the course of the study, funded at $1.19 million by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the researchers also raised asthma awareness among physicians training to be pediatricians. Asthma refers to the condition in which individuals have difficulty breathing due to narrowing or swelling of the bronchioles (small airways in the lung). Patients are often young and the problem affects an estimated 11 million persons including 4 million under age 18 in the United States. "This was an innovative study for several reasons," Dr. Wood says. "For example, we produced and used materials for the patients in both Spanish and English, to help us to reach children from primarily Spanish-speaking households. Also, we included a physician education component to see if we could improve treatment by increasing physician knowledge." The researchers enrolled 115 Hispanic children and 30 non- Hispanics who had been diagnosed with moderate to severe asthma. Ages at enrollment ranged from 6 to 18 and each child was followed for two years. They were given a "peak flow" meter to measure their breathing ability and taught about how to recognize symptoms, to use medications and to be aware of things that might trigger breathing difficulties such as cigarette smoke and other factors. Response from the children and their families was very encouraging, according to Dr. Wood. "Families were very eager to work with us and grateful to receive information about how they could control their child's asthma and avoid emergency room visits," she reports. The children were also asked other questions including whether they had difficulty breathing when they laughed or cried. "We know that traditionally, people have associated asthma attacks with emotion. This might be because emotion makes us hyperventilate and the increased breathing rate irritates the airways," she speculates. Dr. Wood expects additional patterns to emerge as she and colleagues evaluate their data and pool their findings with four other sites across the country conducting similar studies. Children were seen at the Children's Health Center in the University Health Center downtown. "Families visiting that clinic have the same physician for each visit and have access to a physician by telephone 24-hours a day," Dr. Wood says. The clinic handles more than eight thousand patient visits each year. The study team hosted a thank-you party recently and gave certificates of appreciation to the patients and their families who participated. "We were very pleased to see more than 150 people at the event," she says. "If the education and treatment we offered was effective, which it seems to have been, perhaps these techniques for working with patients and their families and for educating physicians about asthma will serve as a model for similar programs in outpatient clinic settings across the country," she says. Contact: Mike Lawrence (210) 567-2570
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