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Impact of a pediatric clinic-based multidisciplinary asthma education and management program.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine if a multidisciplinary asthma education and management program within a general pediatric clinic impacts clinical outcomes of children with asthma.


METHODS
An asthma education and management clinic was started by a general pediatrician, a pharmacist, and a nurse. At a patient's initial clinic visit, data were collected summarizing hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and number of systemic corticosteroid courses for the previous year. The same data were collected at each subsequent visit. A retrospective review of this data was performed for patients who enrolled in the clinic between February 1999 and 2002 to compare outcomes between the year before enrollment in the clinic and the following year. Patients were included if they received follow-up for at least one year.


RESULTS
Fifty-seven patients with a mean age of 8.5 years qualified for data analysis. Forty-eight percent of the study population was classified as having moderate persistent asthma, and 11% of patients were severe persistent. Compared to the year prior to clinic enrollment, the number of hospitalizations per patient decreased by 82% (P < .001). Emergency department visits decreased by 81% (P < .001). The number of systemic corticosteroid courses decreased by 72% (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Patient enrollment in a general pediatric clinic-based multidisciplinary asthma education and management program decreases hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and systemic corticosteroid exposure.