Feasibility study of a combined lifestyle behaviors and asthma self-management intervention for school-aged children.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of delivering an intervention that combines healthy lifestyle behaviors related to weight management with asthma self-management, the Living Healthy with Asthma intervention, to children who have asthma.

METHODS AND DESIGN

Using a mixed design, the feasibility study of the 12-week Living Healthy with Asthma intervention was conducted with a single group of children diagnosed with asthma. Pretest and posttest data were collected on asthma-related (self-management, metered dose inhaler [MDI] skill, asthma severity, quality of life [QOL]), and healthy lifestyle variables (body mass index [BMI], dietary quality). A matched comparison sample was drawn from a separate study that tested the same asthma self-management component (single intervention) used in the feasibility study to determine if the Living Healthy with Asthma intervention worked as well as the single intervention for improving children's asthma self-management.

RESULTS

Thirteen school-aged children were enrolled in the feasibility study. There were significant reductions in BMI z-scores (P = 0.007), and improvements in vegetable servings (P = 0.03), MDI skill (P = 0.005), children's QOL (P < 0.001), and parents' QOL (P = 0.03). When comparing the feasibility group with the matched comparison group (n = 13), there were no significant differences in asthma self-management, MDI skill, or asthma severity after the interventions.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Findings supported the feasibility of implementing the combined intervention, and it was not inferior to the single intervention-which supports nurses' efforts to help families manage multiple health problems.