12 Outcomes assessed:
- Asthma Symptoms and exacerbation frequency
- Missed school and parental work due to asthma
- Asthma ED visits and hospitalizations
- Parent and child quality of life (QOL)
- Pediatric Asthma Caregiver Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ)
- Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL)
- Partental satisfaction with physician's asthma care (Asthma Satisfaction Survery)
- Parent Asthma Management Self-Efficacy Scale (PAMSES)
- Costs and cost effectiveness
Analyses
- Stratified analyses examined outcomes for high participants in intervention, and by disease severity (mild vs. Moderate/severe)
- High participants defined as those
- Attending at least 25% of monthly community meetings
- Completing at least 1/2 of monthy PM phone interactions
- General linear models used to examine time trends, and generalized estimated equations (GEEs) adjusted for multiple measurements per participant
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Other outcomes
No Significant Intergroup Differences in:
- Hospitalization rates
- Asthma Satisfaction Survey Scores
Publications
Conclusions
- Parent Mentors more effective than traditional asthma care in improving several asthma outcomes in minority children
- Reducing wheezing, asthma exacerbations, and ED visits
- Fewer missed days of parental work
- Improved parental self-efficacy in knowing when a serious breathing problem can be controlled at home
- Cost of intervention reasonable, averaging $60 per child per month
- Intervention results net cost savings
- Parent Mentors especially effective with high participants in intervention
Implications
- Parent Mentors a promising cost-effective means for reducing racial/ethnic disparities in asthma and other chronic diseases
- Additional intervention benefits include
- Community participation in asthma care
- Enhanced social support and cultural sensitivity
- Relatively low cost
- Parent Mentor employment in often economically-deprived communities