| The Arizona Respiratory Sciences Center, a UA College of Medicine center of excellence, is set to launch a study that aims to reduce the severity of asthma among low-income children in Tucson. The study is part of a multicenter, nationwide program funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and the National Institute of Environmental Health Science, both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Tucson is one of seven sites in the country for this four-year study, which focuses on underserved, primarily minority "inner-city" children, ages 4-12. |  Wayne Morgan, M.D. |
About 150 children with moderate to severe asthma from families living in Tucson census tracts with a high level of poverty will be eligible for the study. More than 1,000 children will participate nationwide. These children will be referred to the study by their physicians or by health professionals at participating clinics. Participants will receive an in-depth clinical evaluation, including a clinical assessment of the factors affecting their asthma, allergy skin testing and a lung function exam.
All study participants will receive an extensive evaluation of their environment to determine if factors in the home, including common indoor allergens and tobacco smoke, are contributing to the child's asthma, along with recommendations on how to make improvements. Some of the study participants, chosen randomly, also will receive at no cost a comprehensive environmental intervention that could include professional cockroach extermination, repair of cracks and pest entry points, encasing mattress and pillows, and installing filters to reduce airborne cat, dog and fungal allergens. In addition, the family will receive information about indoor allergens in the home and how to reduce the child's exposure to these allergens. "This study will help to determine the most efficient manner to improve the health of low-income children with asthma who need an aggressive program to manage their asthma," Dr. Morgan says. "It will provide valuable insights regarding control of the inner-city asthma epidemic."
Co-investigators on the $1.9 million Tucson grant include Bill Nevin, M.D., Partners Health Plan, and Anne Wright, Ph.D., Arizona Respiratory Sciences Center. Other sites in this study are Chicago, New York (two sites: Manhattan and the Bronx), Dallas, Seattle and Boston.
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