Asthma Academy: Developing educational technology to improve Asthma medication adherence and intervention efficiency.

Asthma is a leading chronic disorder among children and adolescents. Although some children outgrow asthma while transitioning into adulthood, there are others who continue to suffer from life-threatening asthmatic exacerbations. Teenagers tend to have certain misconceptions about their asthmatic condition and treatment which are rarely recognized or addressed in regular clinical consultations. After reviewing the literature in this field, we have identified that improving patient knowledge can be effective in augmenting engagement, and considerably improving their clinical outcomes. It is necessary to develop an effective educational intervention that can help Asthma patients change their perception about self-efficacy and ultimately reduce the total health care costs incurred. Hence, a sound transfer of knowledge during the transition from childcare to adult care is highly recommended. On these very lines, Georgia Institute of Technology designed an interactive educational application called Asthma Academy in conjunction with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. This website resides in the public cloud and uses a novel animation video-based curriculum to deliver essential healthcare education to asthmatic adolescents in an interactive manner. What distinguishes it from similar initiatives is the use of a cost-effective technique to simulate caregiver-patient interactions and the ability to cater to a wide range of socio-economic statuses and educational levels. A group-based study with twenty asthma adolescents was conducted to evaluate the user acceptance and performance of Asthma Academy supplemented by regular check-ups over a period of eight to ten weeks. Observations recorded post the study clearly indicate higher levels of engagement and the systematic dissemination of information offered by Asthma Academy.

Relationship between treatment with antacid medication and the prevalence of food allergy in children.

Food allergy affects 8% of preschool children, but factors responsible for food allergy in children are poorly understood. Use of antacid medication may be a contributing factor. The purpose of this study was to determine if parent-reported antacid medication use was associated with higher prevalence of food allergy in atopic children. In this cross-sectional study, parents of children with atopic diseases completed a questionnaire relating to a history of treatment with antacid medication and food allergy. Charts were independently reviewed for food-specific IgE and/or skin-prick test results. Food allergy was defined as a reaction to a food consistent with the anaphylaxis consensus statement and either an elevated food-specific IgE or a positive food skin-prick test. One hundred four questionnaires were completed. Mean age of the participating children was 7.0 ± 4.3 years (range, 5 months to 18 years of age). Forty-seven (45%) individuals were reported to have taken an antacid medication in the past. History of taking antacid medication was associated with an increased prevalence (57% (27)/47 versus 32% (18)/57) and higher prevalence of food allergy of having food allergy (aPR, 1.7 [1.1-2.5]). Mean peanut food-specific IgE was higher in those with a history of taking antacid medication (11.0 ± 5.0 versus 2.0 ± 5.5.; p = 0.01). History of treatment with antacid medication is associated with an increased prevalence of having food allergy.

Poor asthma control in obese children may be overestimated because of enhanced perception of dyspnea.

BACKGROUND: Although studies in adults have shown a non-TH2 obese asthma phenotype, whether a similar phenotype exists in children is unclear. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that asthmatic children with obesity, defined as a body mass index above the 95th percentile for age and sex, would have poorer asthma control as well as decreased quality of life, increased health care utilization, and decreased pulmonary function measures as a function of increased TH1 versus TH2 polarization. METHODS: This study involved a post hoc analysis of cross sectional data from 269 children 6 to 17 years of age enrolled in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Severe Asthma Research Program. Children answered questionnaires and underwent spirometry, plethysmography, exhaled nitric oxide determination, and venipuncture for TH1/TH2 cytokine determination. Asthma control was defined according to national asthma treatment guidelines that are based on prespecified thresholds for lung function and symptom frequency. RESULTS: Fifty-eight children (22%) were overweight and 67(25%) were obese. Obese children did not have poorer asthma control but were more likely to report nonspecific symptoms such as dyspnea and nocturnal awakenings. Obese children did have decreased asthma-related quality of life and increased health care utilization, but this was not associated with airflow limitation. Instead, obese children had decreased functional residual capacity. A unique pattern of TH1 or TH2 polarization was not observed. CONCLUSIONS: Poor asthma control in obese children with asthma may be overestimated because of enhanced perception of nonspecific symptoms such as dyspnea that results from altered mechanical properties of the chest wall. Careful assessment of physiologic as well as symptom-based measures is needed in the evaluation of obese children with respiratory symptoms.

Residential proximity to a major roadway is associated with features of asthma control in children.

BACKGROUND: While several studies suggest that traffic-related air pollutants are detrimental for respiratory health, few studies have examined relationships between residential proximity to a major roadway and asthma control in children. Furthermore, a major limitation of existing research is reliance on self-reported outcomes. We therefore determined the spatial relationship between the distance from a major roadway and clinical, physiologic and inflammatory features of asthma in a highly characterized sample of asthmatic children 6-17 years of age across a wide range of severities. We hypothesized that a closer residential proximity to a major roadway would be associated with increased respiratory symptoms, altered pulmonary function and a greater magnitude of airway and systemic inflammation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 224 children 6-17 years with confirmed asthma completed questionnaires and underwent spirometry, plethysmography, exhaled nitric oxide determination, exhaled breath condensate collection and venipuncture. Residential distance from a major roadway was determined by mapping the geographic coordinates of the residential address in Geographic Information System software. The distance between the home address and the nearest major roadway was calculated according to the shortest distance between the two points (i.e., "as the crow flies"). Asthmatic children living in closer proximity to a major roadway had an increased frequency of wheezing associated with increased medication requirements and more hospitalizations even after controlling for potential confounders. These children also had increased airway resistance, increased airway inflammation reflected by a lower breath condensate pH, and higher plasma EGF concentrations. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggest that closer residential proximity to a major roadway is associated with poorer asthma control in school-age children. Assessment of residential proximity to major roadways may be useful in the clinical evaluation of asthma in children.

Epinephrine autoinjector availability among children with food allergy.

Epinephrine is the treatment of choice for anaphylaxis. Delay in administration of epinephrine is a known risk factor for food allergy reaction-related mortality; however, individuals with food allergy may not have epinephrine readily available. This study was designed to determine the percent of food-allergic children that have an epinephrine autoinjector readily available and factors associated with epinephrine autoinjector carriage rates. Parents completed a questionnaire on food allergy and food allergy preparedness. Staff recorded whether an epinephrine autoinjector and medical alert bracelet was immediately available in clinic. Parental responses from 63 food-allergic children were included. Fifty-nine percent (37/63) had an epinephrine autoinjector present in the clinic, and 79% (50/63) reported receiving training in epinephrine autoinjector use. There was no correlation between epinephrine autoinjector presence in the clinic and parental report of having an epinephrine autoinjector available at all times (phi = 0.21). Epinephrine autoinjector training was associated with increased odds of having an epinephrine autoinjector immediately available (adjusted odds ratio, 8.74 [1.69, 45.04]). Fewer school aged children (≥5 years old) reportedly had their epinephrine autoinjector with them when eating lunch (25% [8/32] versus 42% [13/31]; p = 0.002) or snacks (28% [9/32] versus 37% [13/31]; p = 0.005) when compared with those <5 years old. Many children do not have their epinephrine autoinjectors readily available despite parental report. Epinephrine autoinjector training improved the odds of having an epinephrine autoinjector readily available. Continued patient education on the importance of having an epinephrine autoinjector easily accessible, especially when eating, is important.

Mapping of numerous disease-associated expression polymorphisms in primary peripheral blood CD4+ lymphocytes.

Genome-wide association studies of human gene expression promise to identify functional regulatory genetic variation that contributes to phenotypic diversity. However, it is unclear how useful this approach will be for the identification of disease-susceptibility variants. We generated gene expression profiles for 22 184 mRNA transcripts using RNA derived from peripheral blood CD4+ lymphocytes, and genome-wide genotype data for 516 512 autosomal markers in 200 subjects. We screened for cis-acting variants by testing variants mapping within 50 kb of expressed transcripts for association with transcript abundance using generalized linear models. Significant associations were identified for 1585 genes at a false discovery rate of 0.05 (corresponding to P-values ranging from 1 × 10(-91) to 7 × 10(-4)). Importantly, we identified evidence of regulatory variation for 119 previously mapped disease genes, including 24 examples where the variant with the strongest evidence of disease-association demonstrates strong association with specific transcript abundance. The prevalence of cis-acting variants among disease-associated genes was 63% higher than the genome-wide rate in our data set (P = 6.41 × 10(-6)), and although many of the implicated loci were associated with immune-related diseases (including asthma, connective tissue disorders and inflammatory bowel disease), associations with genes implicated in non-immune-related diseases including lipid profiles, anthropomorphic measurements, cancer and neurologic disease were also observed. Genetic variants that confer inter-individual differences in gene expression represent an important subset of variants that contribute to disease susceptibility. Population-based integrative genetic approaches can help identify such variation and enhance our understanding of the genetic basis of complex traits.