Personalized assessment can help improve pediatric asthma care

From the study, it also emerged that improved personalized examinations are likely to boost on the accuracy of treatment and also be a plus on Pediatric asthma medication.

This emerged from a study published in the March issue of Hospital Pediatrics and six control questions have been formulated.

 Role of Medication 

In a statement, Dr. Alexander Hogan, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine said that it is important for Pediatric asthma patient to stick to their daily prescribed dosage of medication.

Hogan was the leader of this noble study that was conducted at the Children’s Hospital of Montefiore in Bronx, New York.

Rescue inhalers, the medic said were employed in children with mild Pediatric asthma, but those whose condition had advanced and it was persistent, they needed to get a daily dose for instance, corticosteroid which reduces the  risking of facing a Pediatric asthma attack.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 136,000 pediatric hospitalizations are recorded annually and that 219 kids who are less than 18 years succumb to the disease in 2015.

The patient’s personalization was guided by N. Y hospital medical officers who oversaw clinicians and patient’s personalized care.

This was done with the help of patient decision tools, access to a mobile phone application and also access to an electronic medical history record.

 How the Study Was Carried Out

The questions asked included:

  1. How many asthma attacks did you have in one week?
  2. The number of bedtime awakening experienced in one month?
  3. The total number of inhaler used in a week whenever symptoms appeared?
  4. The figure of exacerbations that called for administration of oral corticosteroids during the previous year?
  5. How doses were missed per week from the existing controller medication?
  6. What was the degree of asthma interference to normal activities?

Between 2015 and 2016 first 5 patients that were discharged were taken through a review of the six questions and documentation was done besides also taking into account, the accuracy of the discharge controller therapy.

In some weeks, more than 5 patients could be sampled and this translated to 252 post-intervention and 240 pre-intervention charts being reviewed.

After the six questions were asked during the exercise, the researchers discovered that appropriate controller therapy was at 80 per cent (post-intervention) which marked a significant increase from 60 per cent before the intervention.

It was also observed that the frequency of the medics asking the question surged from 40 to 98 percent.

Hogan remained firm that it was noble for any parent to raise such questions/concerns with their kid’s doctor if the medical practitioner seemed not to be taking in such considerations. An important issue to remember is that first aid certification is necessary for any individual offering that type of care.