Asthma Care in an Academic Pediatric Primary Care Clinic: An Examination of Asthma Triggers

Purpose: The prevalence of asthma among pediatric populations is increasing: 8.4% of children (approximately 6.2 million) in the United States have asthma. It is the leading cause of chronic disease in children. It is hoped the implementation of asthma action plans will better help children (and their parents) manage their condition. A primary way in which asthma action plans are believed to assist their patients in understanding their condition is the identification of triggers for each patient's asthma. In pursuit of this goal, a local study of the asthmatic pediatric patient population at the UNTHSC Health Pavilion was carried out; specifically, research into the most prevalent asthma triggers within this population, as well as trigger exposures and disease severity. Methods: In order to craft a questionnaire designed to capture relevant information, PubMed was utilized to research pre-existing asthma action plans and questionnaires in order to create our own questionnaire for use at the Health Pavilion. This questionnaire was then used to attempt to contact 300 pediatric asthma patients currently being seen at the clinic and gather information on their asthma triggers and disease state, with data recorded in RedCap. Results: Data from 107 of these patients was recorded, which demonstrated a predominance of allergy-induced asthma, with exercise- and dust-induced asthma close behind. Conclusions: An emphasis on identifying prevalent asthma triggers can help pediatric patients and their parents better understand their disease. These triggers can also be focused on and worked into action plans in future patient care.