Ineffectiveness of telephone-based environmental control intervention to improve asthma outcomes.

摘要

Current guidelines recommend testing for allergic sensitization (skin or blood tests) for all patients with persistent or uncontrolled asthma and environmental control education for those patients with positive test results.1 Practical barriers to following^this recommendation include cost, additional visits, and possible need for specialist referral. The purpose of our study was to test a relatively undemanding, convenient, and inexpensive means to fulfill this recommendation in a large health plan without the need for a physician's office visit or specialist referral. Reports of improved asthma outcomes using telephone interventions2'3 supported a telephone-based intervention for this study.