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PEDIATRICS Vol. 106 No. 5 November 2000, pp. 1006-1012

Effectiveness of a Clinical Pathway for Inpatient Asthma Management

Received Oct 25, 1999; accepted Feb 17, 2000.

Kevin B. Johnson*, Carol J. BlaisdellDagger , Allen Walker§, and Peyton Egglestonparallel

From the Divisions of * General Pediatrics, Dagger  Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine, § Pediatric Emergency Medicine, and parallel  Pediatric Immunology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.

Background.  Clinical pathways for asthma are tools that have the potential to improve compliance with nationally recognized management guidelines, but their effect on patient outcomes has not been documented.

Objectives.  To determine the effect of an asthma clinical pathway on patients' length of stay, use of nebulized beta -agonist therapy while hospitalized, and use of acute care clinics for 2 weeks after discharge.

Design/Methods.  The study was a randomized, controlled trial. Patients between the ages of 2 and 18 years admitted with an asthma exacerbation and not under the care of an asthma specialist were eligible for the study. Patients were randomized either to a conventional ward (control group) or to a ward using the clinical pathway (intervention group). For 2 weeks after discharge, we collected data to determine whether patients visited a health care provider for worsening asthma.

Results.  One hundred ten patients (26%) were enrolled. Control and intervention groups had similar demographic and asthma severity profiles. The intervention group had an average length of stay 13 hours shorter than did the control group. In addition, at every dosing interval, the intervention group received less nebulized beta -agonist therapy. There were no deaths in either group.

Conclusion.  A clinical pathway for inpatient asthma decreased the length of stay and beta -agonist medication use with no adverse outcomes or increased acute-care encounters through 2 weeks after discharge.  Key words:  asthma, clinical practice guidelines, clinical pathways, health services research.


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