KEY POINTS

Question  Can a novel school-based intervention that includes supervised asthma therapy and telemedicine visits overcome key barriers to guideline-based preventive care and improve outcomes for urban children with asthma?

Findings  In this randomized clinical trial that included 400 children, increased symptom-free days and fewer emergency department visits or hospitalizations were seen among children receiving the intervention compared with usual care.

Meaning  School-based programs that incorporate telemedicine to link to primary care can improve outcomes for urban children with asthma.

Importance  Poor adherence to recommended preventive asthma medications is common, leading to preventable morbidity. We developed the School-Based Telemedicine Enhanced Asthma Management (SB-TEAM) program to build on school-based supervised therapy programs by incorporating telemedicine at school to overcome barriers to preventive asthma care.

Objective  To evaluate the effect of the SB-TEAM program on asthma morbidity among urban children with persistent asthma.

Design, Setting, and Participants  In this randomized clinical trial, children with persistent asthma aged 3 to 10 years in the Rochester City School District in Rochester, New York, were stratified by preventive medication use at baseline and randomly assigned to the SB-TEAM program or enhanced usual care for 1 school year. Participants were enrolled at the beginning of the school year (2012-2016), and outcomes were assessed through the end of the school year. Data were analyzed between May 2017 and November 2017 using multivariable modified intention-to-treat analyses.

Interventions  Supervised administration of preventive asthma medication at school as well as 3 school-based telemedicine visits to ensure appropriate assessment, preventive medication prescription, and follow-up care. The school site component of the telemedicine visit was completed by telemedicine assistants, who obtained history and examination data. These data were stored in a secure virtual waiting room and then viewed by the primary care clinician, who completed the assessment and communicated with caregivers via videoconference or telephone. Preventive medication prescriptions were sent to pharmacies that deliver to schools for supervised daily administration.

Main Outcomes and Measures  The primary outcome was the mean number of symptom-free days per 2 weeks, assessed by bimonthly blinded interviews.

Results  Of the 400 enrolled children, 247 (61.8%) were male and 230 (57.5%) were African American, and the mean (SD) age was 7.8 (1.7) years. Demographic characteristics and asthma severity in the 2 groups were similar at baseline. Among children in the SB-TEAM group, 196 (98.0%) had 1 or more telemedicine visits, and 165 (82.5%) received supervised therapy through school. We found that children in the SB-TEAM group had more symptom-free days per 2 weeks postintervention compared with children in the enhanced usual care group (11.6 vs 10.97; difference, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.15-1.22; P = .01), with the largest difference observed at the final follow-up (difference, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.10-1.59). In addition, children in the SB-TEAM group were less likely to have an emergency department visit or hospitalization for asthma (7% vs 15%; odds ratio, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.32-0.84).

Conclusions and Relevance  The SB-TEAM intervention significantly improved symptoms and reduced health care utilization among urban children with persistent asthma. This program could serve as a model for sustainable asthma care among school-aged children.

Trial Registration  clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01650844