Using a convenience sampling technique, four schools with 2877 students enrolled in full-time nursing programs were compared to five matched San Jose Unified School District schools with 3204 students enrolled in part-time nursing programs with similar demographics. For comparison purposes, the study also used other primary schools with school-based health clinics.
Explanatory research sought to ascertain the relationship between various educational systems, grade levels, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, as well as whether or not the outcomes differed.
A quasi-experimental investigation. Increasing school nurse operation time led to improved asthma management. The nurses used education, monitoring, prevention and emphasis on flu vaccination and coordination to improve asthma management.
-There was a decrease in the average number of school absenteeism due to student illness in the demonstration schools while the mean number of absence students with illness in control schools increased between 2006 and 2009
-the Absence data and health conditions of the student relied on the physician notes and parent self-report which could have been erroneous.
Brooten et al. (2008)
To examine the impact of the health Children home program on community perception of susceptibility, severity, triggers, control behaviors and misconceptions on about asthma.
-Convenience sampling involving 15 Asthma Amigo participants and pre and post survey samples of grade 1-8 involving 100 teachers, school staffs and parents
Descriptive research on the parent and children knowledge on triggers and exacerbating factors of asthma.
A quasi-experimental research involving pre and post survey carried out in Spanish and English
The post-intervention data showed higher knowledge and less misconception of parents and children on common triggers. The pre-intervention, however, showed less knowledge from the household on this diseases.
General population areas and small size of samples are possible limitations of this study
Dozier et al. (2006).
To locate the divergence between parents and doctors consideration of what is adequate asthma symptoms control.
A random sampling of 2068 participants across three age groups from with 3000 households affects with asthma. The random sampling involved 300 school aged children used as control or study group or control group.
Descriptive research to find out perceive asthma control and actual control.
A randomized control research.
-Most parents showed good asthma control in the experiment involving 300 school aged children. Out of this only, 58% showed consistency between assessed control and the indicated symptoms.
-Parents were also inconsistent on their perception of asthma control among children and the asthma morbidity
- The result showed that morbidity of asthma could reduce by improving the understanding of community on the maintenance compared to acute treatment of the reported symptoms
The control used through parent reported asthma-related hospitalizations, emergency room visits, etc. as a measurement mechanism which can result in false results. Results also relied mainly on symptoms during the prior four weeks, and there was the possibility of overestimated chronic control.
Horner (2006)
To define the challenges and solutions in implementing home visits for teaching and self-management of asthma in rural areas and identify if the home visit reduces the exacerbations.
A random sample involving 937 families of 5-11-year-old children diagnosed with asthma to act as control and treatment group.
A descriptive study to find out challenges and solutions in implementing home visits for teaching and self-management of asthma in rural areas and identify if the home visit reduces the exacerbations.
Randomized control study
-Results showed that families in the study had 84% retention rate for the first two years
There was a decrease in child absenteeism from 5% -3.8% in two days of the study –The difference between control and treatment group was statistically insignificance.
-Challenges in the homes visit such as locating the home, scheduling, safety and maintaining the contact with family could have cause bias.
-The sample size was small and could not give a representative result.
The home visit intervention is an expensive process.
Research Summary Table: Asthma Education
Summary
The table provides an overview of four studies on asthma. They seek to determine if asthma education program for parents and patients or absence of it lead to reduced asthma exacerbations, ER visits as well as loss of school over the course of a year for children the age of 16 effects by asthma. In the table, two studies were controlled randomly while two involved convenience sampling. All these research relied on children under the age of 18.
The first study by Rodriguez et al. (2013) aimed to assess the role of nurses in different schools on the management of asthma, school absenteeism, and cost savings. It is a descriptive, quasi-experimental research that relied on self-reporting to produce come to its conclusion. The result from this study showed that increasing school nurse operation time led to improved asthma management. The nurses used education, monitoring, prevention and emphasis on flu vaccination and coordination to improve asthma management. It also indicated that a decrease in the average number of school absenteeism due to student illness in the demonstration schools while the mean number of absence students with illness in control schools increased between 2006 and 2009. The limitation of the research is that it depended on self-report and this could lead to errors.
The second study by Brooten et al. (2008) was a quasi-experimental study involving a convenience sampling with pre and post surveys conducted in both Spanish and English. The research aimed at examining the impact of Health Children Healthy Home Program on community perception of susceptibility, severity, triggers, control behaviors and misconceptions on about asthma. The study was a descriptive and quasi-experimental in nature and used a convenience sampling involving 15 Asthma Amigo participants and pre and post survey samples of grade 1-8 involving 100 teachers, school staffs and parents. The outcome indicates that post intervention data showed higher knowledge and less misconception of parents and children on common triggers. The pre-intervention, however, showed less knowledge from the household on this diseases. The limitation of this research includes the use of general population areas and small size of samples.
The third research by Dozier et al. (2006) is descriptive, randomized control study that aimed to locate the difference between parents and doctor’s consideration of what is adequate control of asthma symptoms. It used 300 school aged children to act as monitoring and treatment group. The results showed that most parents showed good asthma control in the experiment involving 300 school aged children. Out of this only, 58% showed consistency between assessed control and the indicated symptoms. Besides, parents were also inconsistent on their perception of asthma control among children and the asthma morbidity. The also showed that morbidity of asthma could reduce by improving the understanding of community on the maintenance compared to the acute treatment of the reported symptoms. The limitation the research originated from the used control measure. It employed parent reported, asthma-related hospitalizations, emergency room, and visits which could result in unreliable data. Results also relied mainly on symptoms during the prior four weeks, and there was possibility of overestimated chronic control
The last study by Horner (2006) aimed at analyzing the challenges and solutions in implementing home visits for teaching and self-management of asthma in rural areas and identify if the home visit reduces the exacerbations. It is a descriptive, randomized control study involving 937 families of 5-11-year-old children diagnosed with asthma to act as monitoring and treatment group. The results of the survey showed that households in the research had a retention rate of 84% for the first two years. Besides, there was a decrease in child absenteeism from 5% -3.8% in two days of the study. However, the difference between control and treatment group was statistically insignificance. The limitations included challenges in the homes visit such as locating the home, scheduling, safety and maintaining the contact with family could have cause bias. Besides, the sample size was small and could not give a representative result. The home visits were also expensive intervention approach.
References
Brooten, D., Youngblut, J., Royal, S., Cohn, S., Lobar, S., & Hernandez, L. (2008). Outcomes of an asthma program: healthy children, healthy homes. Pediatric Nursing, 34(6), 448-455 8p.
Dozier, A., Aligne, C., & Schlabach, M. (2006). What is asthma control? Discrepancies between parents' perceptions and official definitions. Journal of School Health, 76(6), 215-218 4p.
Horner, S. (2006). Home visiting for intervention delivery to improve rural family asthma management. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 23(4), 213-223 11p.
Rodriguez, E., Rivera, D. A., Perlroth, D., Becker, E., Wang, N. E., & Landau, M. (2013). School Nurses' Role in Asthma Management, School Absenteeism, and Cost Savings: A Demonstration Project. Journal of School Health, 83(12), 842-850
