RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.,
May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- New
data from a school asthma management program, "Building Bridges for
Asthma Care," presented today at the American Thoracic Society 2015
International Conference, show a significant decrease in school
absenteeism among children with asthma from inner-city schools who
were enrolled in the program. Absences dropped 11.75 percent among
children enrolled in Building Bridges, compared to an increase of
8.48 percent in children with asthma not in the
program.1
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"Building Bridges for Asthma Care" is a school-based program
designed to empower nurses in participating elementary schools to
ensure that asthmatic children are identified and provided care
according to the National Institute of Health's clinical treatment
guidelines. The objectives of the program are addressing the
risk of health disparities and asthma-related absenteeism, as well
as its related impact on academic achievement for inner city
students.
"Our goal is to improve asthma care by building bridges of
communication between school nurses, the child's family, and their
primary care provider," said Stanley J.
Szefler, M.D., lead clinician for the program and Director
of the Pediatric Asthma Research Program in the Breathing Institute
of the Pediatric Pulmonary Section at Children's Hospital Colorado.
"These children already face significant challenges when it comes
to their education and well being. We're working together to take
absenteeism off the list."
Building Bridges is a collaboration between GSK, Children's
Hospital Colorado, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, National
Jewish Health, Rho and the public school systems in Denver and Hartford. GSK fully funds the program and,
along with a panel of experts, defined its objectives.
The study included data from 2,224 students from three of the 28
schools in the program. Overall, the program has assessed
asthma control and risk of recurrent asthma exacerbations on 1,268
children with asthma across all schools. Of those, 464 enrolled in
the program.
David Stempel, GSK's physician
medical lead for Building Bridges, said, "Asthma affects
approximately 7 million children in the US; each school day, 36,000
children miss school because of their asthma. As a company
with over 40 years of heritage in respiratory health, we're proud
to contribute to a program that can help children better manage
their asthma, so that they can attend school, ready to learn and to
reach their full academic potential. We believe this data shows
that Building Bridges can serve as a model for school based asthma
management across the country."
Asthma is the most common chronic disease that causes school
absenteeism in the United States,
particularly among low income and minority children. It has been
classified as one of the "educationally relevant health
disparities" that must be addressed as part of school reform, due
to its contribution to widening the achievement gap between urban
minority children and their peers.2
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About Building Bridges for Asthma Care
Building
Bridges for Asthma Care is a school-centered asthma management
program funded by GSK and implemented across 28 public elementary
schools in Denver, Colo. and
Hartford, Conn.
The primary implementers of the program are school nurses, who
identify students with asthma, based on medical history provided by
the parents or information on their school's portal. Throughout the
school year, the student's absenteeism, physical activity, and
asthma control levels are monitored by nurses and communicated to
the parents and healthcare providers. At the end of the year,
schools work to get families and health care providers organized
for the next academic year, with an asthma checklist and required
school forms to be returned during registration.
Training in asthma management, inhaler technique and how
Building Bridges works is offered to all nurses prior to the start
of the school year. To coordinate care, the program provides a
school nurse coordinator and a series of resources and validated
tools, such as education materials, standard letters, Asthma
Control Test forms and others. A web-based platform manages the
data generated by the nurses.
About the Study
Preliminary data from 2,244 children
(40% African American, 53% Hispanic, 7% Other) in the three
Hartford, Connecticut elementary
schools demonstrated an overall increase in the absenteeism rate
from the 2012-13 to 2013-14 school year (9.32% vs. 9.63%,
p<0.001). The absenteeism rate for the 67 children (18% African
American, 78% Hispanic) enrolled in the Building Bridges
intervention, however, decreased from 13.3% to 12.0% whereas those
not in the intervention increased from 9.2% to 9.5%. The difference
in the change of absenteeism rates between the intervention
children and controls over the two school years was highly
significant (p=.0008). In a more direct comparison to an asthma
severity matched sample, the intervention children demonstrated a
11.75% drop in school absences as compared to a 8.48% increase for
those children not enrolled in Building Bridges (p<.001).
About Asthma
Asthma is a chronic lung disease that
that reduces airflow to the lung caused by inflammation and
twitchiness of the airways.3 Approximately 26
million people in the US, including 7.1 million children currently
have asthma, a rate of 84.8 per 1,000 population.4
Around 36,000 children with asthma miss school every day in the
US.5
The highest prevalence rate was seen in those 5-17 years of age
(105.5 per 1,000 population).4 Despite medical
advances, more than half of patients continue to experience poor
control and significant symptoms.6
The causes of asthma are not completely understood but likely
involve an interaction between a person's genetic make-up and the
environment. Key risk factors are inhaled substances that provoke
allergic reactions or irritate the airways, common viral infections
and physical exertion of daily childhood activities.
GSK – one of the world's leading research-based
pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving
the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel
better and live longer. For further information please visit
www.gsk.com.
References
- Hollenbach J. et al. Reducing School Absenteeism among
Inner-City Children: Preliminary Results from the 2013-14 Building
Bridges: Advancing Education by Improving Asthma Management in
Inner-City Children Program, ATS
2015.
- Basch CE. Healthier students are better learners: a missing
link in school reforms to close the achievement gap. J Sch
Health. 2011 Oct; 81(10):593-8.
- Global Initiative for Asthma. Pocket Guide for asthma
management and prevention. Updated 2014.
- American Lung Association, Epidemiology & Statistics Unit,
Research and Program Services Division, Trends in Asthma Morbidity
and Mortality, September 2012,
www.lungusa.org/finding-cures/our-research/trend-reports/asthma-trend-report.pdf
- Cicutto L, Gleason M, Szefler SJ. Establishing school-centered
asthma programs. Clinical Reviews in Allergy and Immunology,
Dec 2014.
- Demoly et al. Eur Respir Rev. 2012 Mar 1;21(123):66-74. doi:
10.1183/09059180.00008111.
GSK Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking
statements
GSK cautions investors that any
forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including
those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to,
those described under Item 3.D 'Risk factors' in the company's
Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2013.
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SOURCE GlaxoSmithKline