Project Summary
This project will update a Cochrane Collaboration systematic evidence review and meta-analysis (SR/MA) of randomized and controlled clinical trials of asthma self-management education programs for children and adolescents, results of which were published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The effectiveness of these asthma self-management education programs are evaluated to estimate their effects on four types of health outcomes in children and adolescents: 1) Lung function (FEV1 and Peak Flow), 2) Asthma morbidity (asthma exacerbations, days of school absence, days of restricted activity, nights disturbed by asthma, asthma severity), 3) Health care utilization (physician and emergency department visits, hospitalizations), and 4) Self-reported perceptions of self-care abilities (self-efficacy). This updated SR/MA will allow us to incorporate newer evidence to perform more valid and reliable subgroup analyses that are potentially important in designing new programs, such as effectiveness related to 1) Degree of asthma severity, 2) Time of enrollment in the intervention, 3) Type of self-management strategy, 4) Intervention type (individual vs. group), 5) Intensity of intervention (single vs. multiple sessions), and 6) Study quality.
Collaborators: Cyril Grum, MD, University of Michigan; James Guevara, MD, University of Pennsylvania
Project can provide opportunities for interested graduate students and post-docs.
Project Keywords: Asthma Education, Meta-Analysis, Systematic Reviews