Any doctor's visit can help control asthma

CINCINNATI, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers suggest taking advantage of any visit to the doctor as an opportunity to control the asthma of a teenager.

"Having regular, planned physician appointments to manage a child's asthma is an integral part of the chronic care model," study co-author Dr. Greg Szumlas of Cincinnati Children's Medical Center says in a statement.

"Unfortunately, many patients don't always keep these appointments, so the planned opportunity for education of patient and parent is lost. We also know patients see their physicians for other acute problems, so we developed a system to capture these opportunities and turn them into what we call the 'unplanned planned' asthma visits."

During these visits, patients undergo asthma control screening, condition assessment and receive education on asthma self-management. The visit is turned into an opportunity to assess and manage the patient's asthma, Szumlas said.

Taking advantage of these unplanned asthma visits led to a 50 percent reduction in asthma hospitalizations and a 47 percent decrease in asthma related emergency room visits among 230 asthma patients over a one-year period.

The study is scheduled to be presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Society in Honolulu Tuesday.