Developing and Testing Asthma Quality of Care Measures. Abstract, ExecutiveSummary and Final Report

摘要

Suboptimal treatment contributes significantly to increased asthma morbidity,especially among economically disadvantaged inner-city residents. The purpose of the project was to develop a system to evaluate the quality of acute asthma care. The project's studies included adults treated for acute asthma in a public hospital ED. Lung function change from the time of acute asthma care until two to three weeks later, provided a short-term measure of asthma morbidity. Patient personal and environmental risk factors were used in the statistical analysis to assist us in differentiating what acute asthma care treatments were effective in improving lung function. The study indicated that the most important patient and environmental risk factors for lung function following treatment for an acute asthma were lower asthma knowledge and exposure to indoor allergens. Scheduling asthma care follow-up and providing patient education on asthma medication use on ED discharge were found to be most effective for improving lung function following acute asthma care, and were found to be most effective for improving lung function following acute asthma care, and were translated into quality of care measures.