Environmental Health Economic Analysis Annotated Bibliography
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Research articleAuthors
Bryant-Stephens T and Li Y
Journal
Journal of the National Medical Association
Summary
This study examined the effectiveness of a home-based intervention for reducing environmental asthma triggers, and determined that children experienced fewer asthma-related hospitalizations, emergency room visits, sick visits, and asthma symptoms with the intervention. Study findings suggested that low-cost in-home education and environmental remediation may improve outcomes for asthmatic children, and that lay educators can deliver effective asthma-specific education that results in improved asthma control.
Population
Children and adolescents living in urban areas (2-16 years)
Health Outcomes
- Respiratory outcomes
Health Outcome List:
- Respiratory outcomes (asthma, asthma symptoms (nighttime/daytime wheezing and coughing))
Environmental Agents
List of Environmental Agents:
- Indoor allergens (cockroach, dust mite)
- air pollutants (tobacco smoke)
Source of Environmental Agents:
- Allergens from pests (cockroaches, rodents)
- cigarette smoke (secondhand smoke)
Economic Evaluation / Methods and Source
Type:
- Cost-benefit analysis (CBA)
Cost Measures:
- Asthma-related inpatient hospitalizations (length of hospital stays)
- number of emergency visits related to asthma
- number of sick visits related to asthma
- cost for environmental asthma trigger intervention
- salary for home visitor
Potential Cost Measures:
- Not available
Benefits Measures:
- Reduction in number of inpatient hospitalizations/visits
- reduction in number of asthma-related emergency department visits and sick visits
- reduction in frequency of daytime/nighttime asthma symptoms (wheezing, coughing, etc.)
- reduced reliance on asthma medications (beta-agonists and controller medicines (e.g., albuterol))
Potential Benefits Measures:
- Not available
Location:
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Models Used:
- Not available
Models References:
- Not available
Methods Used:
- The authors used a prospective, randomized controlled trial design to study the effectiveness of a low-cost asthma intervention using lay educators to promote control of asthma triggers in the bedrooms of children with asthma. The authors — 1) enrolled patients in the study who received primary care at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia between 1999 and 2002; 2) randomly assigned patients to either the observation only (OBS) group or the home visitor education and environmental intervention (HVE) group; 3) delivered in-home education visits which covered asthma physiology, asthma trigger avoidance and asthma management and conducted environmental remediation with the caregiver; and 4) monitored groups for 12 months.
Sources Used:
- The authors collected the data used for the study described in this publication. No other existing datasets were used.
Economic Citation / Fundings
Citation:
- Bryant-Stephens T and Li Y. Outcomes of a home-based environmental remediation for urban children with asthma. Journal of the National Medical Association. 2008. 100; 3.
- Pubmed
- DOI
NIEHS Funding:
- Not available
Other Funding: Not available