A Pilot Study to Enhance Preventive Asthma Care among Urban Adolescents with Asthma

Background. Low-income, minority teens have disproportionately high rates of asthma morbidity and are at high risk for nonadherence to preventive medications. Objective. To assess the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an innovative school-based asthma program to enhance the delivery of preventive care for 12–15 year olds with persistent asthma. We hypothesized that this intervention would () be feasible and acceptable among this population and () yield reduced asthma morbidity. Design/methods. Subjects/setting: Teens with persistent asthma and a current preventive medication prescription in Rochester, NY. Design: Single group pre-post pilot study during the 2009–2010 school year. Intervention: Teens visited the school nurse daily for 6–8 weeks at the start of the school year to receive directly observed therapy (DOT) of preventive asthma medications; 2–4 weeks following DOT initiation, they received three counseling sessions (one in-home and two via telephone) using motivational interviewing (M...