Allergens in Inner-City Schools and Childhood Asthma

Boston Children's Hospital351 enrolled

Overview

Asthma is a disease that affects more than 12% of Americans under the age of 18 for over 14 million missed school days per year, and is the number one cause of school absences in America. Elementary school children spend 6 to 10 hours a day in school, and most of that time is spent in one classroom. The goals of this project are to provide an understanding of exposure risk factors specific to the classroom. This is critical, because the classroom environment could potentially be considered as an effective target for prevention of inner-city asthma morbidity by reducing exposures to many symptomatic children through an intervention in the school classrooms.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

351

Conditions

Asthma

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 4 YearsMax age: 15 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Grades K-8 the school year following spring recruitment (Ages 4-15) * Attend one of the schools in the fall where permission obtained for classroom sampling. * Able to provide assent and parent/guardian able to provide informed consent Physician-Diagnosed asthma AND Wheezing in the previous 12 months Exclusion Criteria: * Significant pulmonary diseases other than asthma that might influence test results or pose risks (e.g., cystic fibrosis, sarcoidosis, bronchiectasis) * Cardiovascular disease that requires daily medication * Taking a beta blocker * Active smoker * Unable to follow through with study visit or complete study procedures

Locations (1)

Children's Hospital, Boston

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Maximum Symptom Days/14 Days

Largest value among the following: Number of days with wheezing, tightness in the chest, or cough Number of nights with disturbed sleep as a result of asthma Number of days on which the child had to slow down or discontinue play activities because of asthma

Time frame: 14 days

Secondary Outcomes

Days of Slowed Activity Due to Asthma

Time frame: 12 months

Days of Exercise-induced Symptoms

Time frame: 12 months

Days of Cough Without an Upper Respiratory Infection

Time frame: 12 months

Nights of Wakening Due to Asthma Symptoms

Time frame: 12 months

Number of Hospitalizations

Time frame: 12 months

Emergency Department Visits

Time frame: 12 months

Unscheduled Physician/Health Care Visits

Time frame: 12 months

Prednisone Bursts

Time frame: 12 months

FEV1/FVC

Time frame: 12 months

FEV1 Percent Predicted

Time frame: 12 months

Percent Change in FEV1 After Short-acting Beta Agonist

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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