School-Based Treatment to Improve Asthma Control

For children with persistent asthma, adherence to inhaled corticosteroid controller medication is crucial to prevent exacerbations. Results from three small studies suggested that supervised asthma therapy administered at school improves outcomes. To build on these results, researchers randomized 290 urban children with persistent asthma (mean age, 11 years; 91% black) to receive usual care at home or supervised administration of inhaled budesonide by trained study staff members at school. Using an Internet-based data collection system, researchers compared the proportion of children who had episodes of poor asthma control during a 3-month baseline period (October–December) before randomization and during the same 3 months 1 year later. Epi…