Regional paediatric asthma centre: An intervention model

To evaluate the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary paediatric asthma clinic in reducing the morbidity associated with paediatric asthma.

An initial survey of need was undertaken in the community of Orillia, Ontario and the surrounding area. The clinic was established as a separate entity from the adult model. The multidisciplinary nature of the clinic was a priority. The effectiveness of the clinic was assessed with patient/parent reports and objectively analyzed by assessing the frequency of asthma visits to the emergency room and hospital admissions.

Comparison was undertaken between the first year and third year of clinic operation. The number of paediatric asthma visits to the emergency room was reduced by 20%. The number of paediatric asthma inpatient visits was reduced by 12%. At the same time, the number of paediatric asthma visits to the asthma clinic increased by 200%.

This multidiscipline paediatric asthma clinic model is community friendly and reduces the morbidity of asthma as evidenced by declining visits to the emergency room.