Christine L.M. Joseph|Edward L. Peterson|Suzanne Havstad|Christine Cole Johnson|Sarah L. Hoerauf|Sonja Stringer|Wanda Gibson-Scipio|Dennis R. Ownby|Jennifer Elston-Lafata|Unto E. Pallonen|Victor J. Strecher
A Web-based, Tailored Asthma Management Program for Urban African-American High School Students
urban africanamerican youth aged 1519 years asthma fatality rates higher whites younger children yet programs target population traditionally urban youth believed difficult engage healthrelated programs terms connecting convincingdevelop evaluate multimedia webbased asthma management program specifically target urban high school students program uses tailoring conjunction theorybased models alter behavior individualized health messages based users beliefs attitudes personal barriers changehigh school students reporting asthma symptoms randomized receive tailored program treatment access generic asthma websites control program made available school computersfunctional status medical care use measured study initiation 12 months postbaseline selected management behaviors intervention period 180 days calculated baseline total 314 students randomized 98 african american 49 medicaid enrollees mean age 152 yr 12 months treatment students reported fewer symptomdays symptomnights school days missed restrictedactivity days hospitalizations asthma compared control students adjusted relative risk 95 confidence intervals follows 05 0408 p 0003 04 0208 p 0009 03 0107 p 0006 05 0308 p 002 02 0209 p 001 respectively positive behaviors frequently noted among treatment students compared control students cost estimates program delivery 666 per participating treatment group studenta webbased tailored approach changing negative asthma management behaviors economical feasible effective improving asthma outcomes traditionally hardtoreach population