Improving Pediatric Asthma Care Through Inhaled Steroids in Schools

Asthma is the most common chronic pediatric disease in the United States, and is the most common cause of school absenteeism due to a chronic disease. Socioeconomically disadvantaged minority children receive disproportionately poor asthma care and incur a disproportionate share of asthma-related morbidity. The District of Columbia is particularly severely affected, with a lifetime asthma prevalence rate among children 0-17 years of age in 2010 of 22%, more than double the national average. One of the major challenges in treating asthma is poor adherence to daily controller medications, particularly inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) which are the cornerstone of the NIH guidelines for asthma management. In an attempt to overcome poor compliance, investigators in Rochester, New York have partnered with primary care providers in their community to arrange for ICS administration at school by school nurses, and this approach yielded significant improvements in several asthma outcomes. The investigators propose to collaborate in a pilot research project with the overall goal of improving asthma outcomes through reducing barriers to medication adherence. Specifically, the investigators aim to improve adherence to controller medications (inhaled corticosteroids - ICS) among DC children with asthma through the following activities: 1. A pilot prospective randomized clinical trial of home vs. school administration of ICS among DC children in grades kindergarten-8 with persistent asthma. 2. Qualitative interviews with nurses from DC public and public charter school to identify key barriers to administration of daily controller medications in the school setting