The Effect of a five-Day Educational Program for Children with Asthma on Airway inflammation: A two-year study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a 5 day educational program in children with asthma on airway inflammation as measured by FeNO during 2 consecutive years. Ninety-four children with asthma were enrolled in Camp Wheez. Written consent was obtained for each participant. Children were educated on the early signs of asthma, identifying triggers and the use of controller medications. The curriculum was provided by the Asthma Camp consortium of the AAAAI. The NIOX Vero was used as a 6 to10 second, single breath, incentive quantitative measurement. We measured FeNO on day one (baseline) and day 5 (end of camp), 2018 and 2019. Ninety-four children were enrolled during the 5 day asthma camp 2018 and 2019. The average baseline FeNO was 36.3 ppb, compared to an average of 33.1 ppb on day 5. The average FeNO levels were the same at day 1 and day 5 in campers with a low (<20ppb) and intermediate FeNO (20-35 ppb.) However, in the 36 campers who had a high baseline FeNO >35 ppb there was a significant improvement in FeNO from an average 75 ppb down to 67 ppb. There was a 10% improvement overall at the end of camp. None of the campers were informed on their baseline levels nor received individual coaching. This 2 year study demonstrated the effectiveness of a 5-day asthma education program on 94 children with asthma. Our results showed a significant improvement in FeNo with a 10% improvement (p=.001) at the conclusion of asthma education.