ED-Initiated School-based Asthma Medication Supervision (ED-SAMS)

This planning study will allow us to finalize RCT design, outcome measures, eligibility criteria, intervention and control arms, sample size, analysis plan and the preparation of study related materials for a study evaluating partnership between school based therapy and ED care for children who present with asthma. Approximately 8% of children in the US have asthma. Each year, these children experience 4 million asthma attacks that result in 725,000 ED visits and 100,000 hospitalizations. The total economic burden of asthma is $80 billion annually. Frequent asthma-related school absences impair academic achievement and social functioning. This burden falls disproportionately on minority, low-income, and urban populations. For example, black children have 60% more ED visits and 75% more hospitalizations than white children even though they have similar asthma attack rates.