Efficacy of Chinese Children's Asthma Action Plan in the management of children with asthma.

Kang Zhu, Li Xiang, Kunling Shen

Allergy and asthma proceedings 2020 Jan 01

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Background: Abundant evidence has proven the effectiveness of following an asthma action plan for children. China released its first children's asthma action plan in 2017 to improve asthma control. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the Chinese Children's Asthma Action Plan (CCAAP) in the management of children with asthma. Methods: Children with persistent asthma (6-14 years old) at 10 tertiary hospitals were randomized to receive either CCAAP instructions (intervention group, n = 87) or no plan (control group, n = 86) in addition to the usual asthma care, including education, stepwise asthma therapy, and regular outpatient follow-up. Children were followed up by using a serial measurement of outcomes over the course of 3 months. Results: CCAAP instructions did not have a significant effect on any of outcomes compared with the intervention group: (1) variables related to asthma exacerbation, including the number of patients (p = 0.09), symptomatic days (p = 0.658), severity, medication (courses of reliever, p = 0.696; combined rhinitis medication, p = 0.081; combined oral antibiotics, p = 0.852), missed work days (p = 0.538) or school days (p = 0.441), and economic costs (p = 0.898); (2) asthma control (p = 0.180); or (3) pulmonary function parameters during the follow-up period. Both groups showed significant improvement in asthma control (both p < 0.001) and pulmonary function (p < 0.017) from baseline to the 3-month follow-up. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that provision of CCAAP may play a useful role in the management of children with asthma, but there were no greater benefits than usual asthma care. We need to plan a larger appropriately powered study.

Citation

Kang Zhu, Li Xiang, Kunling Shen. Efficacy of Chinese Children's Asthma Action Plan in the management of children with asthma. Allergy and asthma proceedings. 2020 Jan 01;41(1):e3-e10