Women of Color and Asthma Control

• Emergency department visits - 1st time point [ Time Frame: 12months prior to baseline interview ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  We will collect health care utilization data related to asthma. Women in the study will be asked during their baseline telephone interview to provide information regarding the frequency of Emergency Department visits related to asthma during the year prior to the baseline interview. Second, women's CareWeb and billing records will be reviewed for asthma related ED visits during this time period.
  
  
• Emergency Department Visits -2nd time point [ Time Frame: Interval between baseline interview and 12 month interview ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  We will collect health care utilization data related to asthma. Women in the study will be asked during the SECOND TELEPHONE INTERVIEW to provide information regarding the frequency of Emergency Department visits related to asthma for their year between their baseline and 12month interview. In addition, we will review their CareWeb and billing record data for that time period to see if there are any asthma related Emergency Department visits.
  
  
• Emergency Department Visits - 3rd time point [ Time Frame: Interval between 12 month and 24 month telephone interview ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  We will collect health care utilization data related to asthma. Women in the study will be asked during the THIRD TELEPHONE INTERVIEW to provide information regarding the frequency of Emergency Department visits related to asthma for their year between their 12 month and 24 month telephone interview. In addition, we will review their CareWeb and billing record data for that time period to see if there are any asthma related Emergency Department visits.
  
  

• Hospitalizations - first time point [ Time Frame: Year prior to baseline interview ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Women participating in the study will be asked during their BASELINE telephone interview to provide information on hospitalizations related to asthma for the year prior to their baseline interview.In addition, women's Careweb and billing records will be reviewed for hospitalizations for the above mentioned time period.
  
  
• Hospitalizations related to asthma - 2nd time point [ Time Frame: interval between baseline and 12 month interview ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Women participating in the study will be asked during each of their telephone interviews to provide information on hospitalizations related to asthma. During their SECOND TELEPHONE INTERVIEW they will be asked to provide this information for the year between when their baseline interview was conducted and when we are administering the 12 month interview. In addition, women's Careweb and billing records will be reviewed for hospitalizations for the above mentioned time period.
  
  
• Hospitalizations related to asthma - 3rd time point [ Time Frame: interval between 12month and 24 month telephone interview ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Women participating in the study will be asked during each of their telephone interviews to provide information on hospitalizations related to asthma. During their THIRD TELEPHONE INTERVIEW women will be asked to report the number of hospitalizations related to asthma that occurred for the year between when we conducted their 12 month interview and when we are administering the 24month interview. In addition, women's Careweb and billing records will be reviewed for hospitalizations for the above mentioned time period.
  
  

Research and practice efforts in asthma continue to overlook one of the most vulnerable subgroups of Americans, minority women. Women of color, especially African Americans, bear a significantly disproportionate burden of asthma among adults. However, no rigorous trial of an intervention to assist them with their particular challenges can be located. The proposed randomized controlled trial will evaluate an innovative intervention in 420 African American women with asthma. It will be the first to address both specific cultural factors affecting asthma and the influence of female sex and gender on control. It will use a highly tailored, telephone counseling approach designed to foster partnership with the clinician, resolution of specific asthma management problems, and identification of important contributing influences often misunderstood or ignored by women themselves as well as the health care system. It will attend closely to the role of allergy in asthma management as patients in the African American population have been shown to be at greater risk for allergic asthma.

Data will be collected at baseline, 12, and 24 months by telephone interview and from medical records. The hypotheses of the research are that women in the intervention group when compared to the control group will:

• Use emergency department services for asthma less frequently and need urgent care in a physician's office less often;
• Be hospitalized for asthma less frequently.
• Experience fewer symptoms of asthma;
• Have higher levels of asthma-related quality of life

The intervention aims to reduce the burden of asthma as carried by a large subgroup of the adult population. It employs state of the art asthma management strategies and creative means to reach and help patients at high risk of asthma exacerbations and health care use.