Project shows indoor asthma triggers can be curbed

The Seattle-King County Healthy Homes Project, designed to decrease exposure of children to asthma triggers in the home through in-home visits by healthcare workers, has proven successful. It led to a reduction in asthma problems and use of health services among participating children.

A total of 274 low-income households with an asthmatic child aged 4 to 12 years participated the project and were randomly assigned to a high-intensity or low-intensity intervention group.

High-intensity households received seven visits from community healthcare workers over the course of one year and were given an array of resources and support to reduce indoor asthma triggers - such as mattress casings, rodent traps, cleaning kits and smoking cessation counseling.

The low-intensity households received a single visit and more limited resources and support.

One hundred and ten high-intensity households and 136 low-intensity households completed the program.

In the American Journal of Public Health, Dr. James W. Krieger from the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues report that the high-intensity group achieved significant improvements in caregiver-rated quality-of-life as well as the child's asthma symptoms and healthcare use.

"Those receiving the low-intensity intervention showed smaller improvements," according to the team.

"The intervention effect was equivalent across caregivers of all race/ethnic groups and educational attainments and among children of all ages and asthma severities," they also note.

Krieger and colleagues think the high-intensity intervention may be cost saving relative to the low-intensity intervention due in part to the savings in urgent care costs.

This study, along with two prior studies, "support the value of intervention aimed at reducing exposure to multiple indoor asthma triggers," the authors say.

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health, April 2005.