Feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a school-based intervention for inner-city, ethnic minority adolescents with undiagnosed asthma.
OBJECTIVE
To describe and test the feasibility of asthma self-management for adolescents with undiagnosed asthma (ASMA-Undx), an 8-week school-based intervention for urban adolescents comprised of three group and five individual coaching sessions, and academic detailing for their primary care providers (PCPs).


METHODS
Thirty high school students (mean age 15.9; 92% female; 72% Latino/a) who reported symptoms of persistent asthma, but no diagnosis were randomized to ASMA-Undx or a no-treatment control group. Interviews were conducted pre- and post-intervention.


RESULTS
All intervention students participated in the three group sessions; 64% received all five individual coaching sessions. Academic detailing telephone calls made by a pediatric pulmonologist reached 83% of the students' PCPs. Relative to controls, a significantly greater proportion of ASMA-Undx students were diagnosed (79% versus 6%, respectively), and prescribed asthma medication (57% versus 6%, respectively). Barriers to diagnosis and treatment included students' and parents' lack of knowledge about asthma.


CONCLUSION
ASMA-Undx is a feasible and promising intervention to assist urban adolescents with undiagnosed asthma obtain a diagnosis and treatment.


PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
ASMA-Undx has the potential to reach many adolescents because it is school-based. It can serve as a model for interventions targeting other pediatric illnesses.