Positive Health Outcomes

The Child Asthma Link Line collects pre and post-intervention data on quality of life, hospitalizations, ER visits, indicators of asthma control, medication and healthcare utilization, and exposure to asthma triggers. This data is collected at intake and through a 6-month follow-up interview. In the future, data will also be collected during a 12-month follow-up call to control for seasonality.

Initial Link Line data suggest strong improvements in many of the above-mentioned indicators. Between 2002 and 2004, the Link Line demonstrated reductions in emergency department visits, hospitalizations, asthma symptoms, missed school and workdays, and smoking, and improvements in quality of life indicators based on pre/post assessments. The Link Line recorded a statistically significant decrease in emergency department visits from 2.9 to 1.4 visits per year.

Additionally, the number of reported daytime and nighttime symptoms in children was decreased by half. The “Juniper Quality of Life Indicator,” a measure of the impact of asthma on a family’s quality of life, improved by 24%.

Other interesting statistically significant results include:

1. the percent of children missing school due to asthma decreased by 65%
2. the number of work days missed do to child’s asthma decreased by 46%
3. the percent of households with a smoker decreased by 32%
4. exposure to a home visitor increased more than two fold
5. the number of families with asthma action plans almost doubled from 38.4% to 64.3%
6. the percent of families with nebulizers and peak flow meters increased

Additionally, the number of hospitalizations decreased from 0.64 to 0.31 hospitalizations per year. While this result was not statistically significant, it does demonstrate a promising trend that will hopefully be validated upon further analysis. Qualitative reports indicated that families valued the Link Line services. Families reported increases in asthma knowledge, improvements in the ability to manage their child’s asthma, and appreciation for Link Line services. Families appreciated the “reassurance and help,” “moral support,” and “information about asthma.” 84% of clients reported that the Link Line was very or somewhat useful. The Link Line continues to receive a large number of referrals and connect families to a range of resources. In the past year Link Line enrolled 274 clients, and has referred these clients to 531 programs, organizations, or events. Additional data is currently being conducted on these clients and will be used to further support the effectiveness of the program.