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To better understand communication between emergency department (ED) staff and the parents of children with acute asthma exacerbations, researchers prospectively followed 148 children ages 6 months to 15 years who were discharged from a pediatric ED in British Columbia between 2002 and 2003. All patients were treated according to the department's asthma clinical pathway, which included an asthma education checklist. Families were interviewed by telephone within 2 weeks and at 6 months after ED discharge.
Most parents (80%) identified an upper respiratory tract infection as the trigger for their child's asthma exacerbation; no parents received information about or implemented specific strategies to reduce the impact of future respiratory infe…