Asthma Learning Project

Overview

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect on knowledge and behavior of playing an educational asthma computer game during a pediatric Emergency Department (ED) asthma visit among children ages 7 - 15 years. The ED cares for a high-risk population of children who have difficulty accessing preventive care well. The addition of a computer game to usual asthma emergency care could be a simple, effective, enjoyable way to improve patients' asthma knowledge, beliefs, and management practices. This project has the potential to lead to larger studies evaluating the benefit of education with and without behavioral interventions such as motivational interviewing. This project plans to implement and evaluate the use of a goal setting activity and the educational asthma computer game, "Quest for the Code" (Starlight Starbright Children's FoundationTM), in the ED of Seattle Children's Hospital. In a randomized trial of Spanish and English speaking children ages 7 - 15 years receiving ED care for their asthma, the investigators will evaluate the effects of the game on children's asthma knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The investigators aim to compare the change in asthma knowledge and locus of control after 3 months, for children who play the computerized asthma game, versus those who receive standard care in the ED. The investigators will also compare changes in asthma severity and activity limitations over 3 months, for children who play the asthma game without goal-setting, children who playing the game with goal-setting, and children who receive standard care. Overall, the investigators hypothesize that educational asthma game play by pediatric patients with acute asthma will improve asthma knowledge, compared with standard care.