Asthma program curbs school absences, hospital visits

Asthma accounts for more than 10 million school absences annually, according to the National Institutes of Health.

 A joint effort to reduce that figure has shown promise in a trial in Columbus, Ohio, thanks to a partnership between researchers at the Michigan State University College of Nursing and Nationwide Children's Hospital.

The School-Based Asthma Therapy program (SBAT) equips school nurses with the resources and skills they need to deliver guideline-based asthma screening and administration of preventive medications in the setting where children spend most of their day, even those with limited contact with the healthcare system.

“My goal is for kids to just be kids and become healthy, active adults,” said MSU College of Nursing Professor Kim Arcoleo, the principal investigator on the project. “I don’t want to read about another child dying from asthma because these are preventable deaths.”

The trial included 633 students in two urban Columbus schools between 2013-2019. Researchers compared data of SBAT participants beginning one year prior to enrolling in the program to completion of one year in the program.

The impact was significant: Asthma control increased 37%, while emergency room visits decreased 49%, hospitalization decreased 50%, and urgent care trips fell 41%. Arcoleo and her team are still analyzing data and hope to soon know how many instructional minutes were recouped from participation in the program, but the early results look promising. They will also be examining children’s grades and classroom behaviors.

“A lot of times, when you don’t have good control of your asthma, you might wake up overnight with coughing or wheezing,” Arcoleo said. “That, of course, makes you tired during the day and we wonder if that also might affect behaviors in the classroom.”

This kind of “return on investment,” Arcoleo said, would be helpful in expanding the program to other possible partner urban and rural school districts in Michigan, Rochester, New York, and across the United States.

Published July 2024