Asthma Education and Emergency Department Visits by Asthmatic Children

This study will be conducted to evaluate the effects of an educational asthma program on the frequency of emergency department visits and identifying factors associated with frequent emergency department visits by asthmatic children and determine its effect on asthma severity and quality of life among asthmatic children and their caregivers.

This one-arm interventional clinical trial study will be conducted at pediatric chest clinics and the emergency department of the children's hospital of Ain Shams University located in Cairo during the period from September 2021 to the end of December 2021. The study will be conducted on 30 asthmatic pediatric patients aged from 1-15 years old with documented asthma diagnoses (intermittent wheezes, breathlessness, dry cough, etc) Inclusion criteria: : Objective asthma diagnostic testing consists of 2 components: (1) demonstration of airway obstruction and (2) documentation of variability in the degree of obstruction. Exclusion criteria: Underlying chronic lung diseases like: (Cystic fibrosis, tuberculosis, childhood interstitial lung diseases). Asthmatic patients with major systemic illness (diabetes, chronic renal failure, chronic liver disease). All the study participants will be subjected to an educational asthma program for 3 months to provide parents and children with information and skills to manage their asthma, through avoiding triggers, training in the correct use of medicines, including inhaler technique, information, and support to maximize adherence. All patients will be followed up by a phone call every 2 weeks and a follow-up visit monthly to confirm compliance with the educational program.

All the study participants were subjected to an educational asthma program for 3 months for providing parents and children with information and skills to manage their asthma ,which was presented from the the first session, through providing a written asthma action plan, information about avoiding triggers, training in the correct use of medicines, including inhaler technique, information and support to maximize adherence . All patients were followed up by a phone call every 2 weeks and follow up visit monthly to confirm compliance to the educational program

Inclusion Criteria: Children with a documented asthma diagnosis Children aged from 1 to 15 years Exclusion Criteria: Children with underlying chronic lung diseases