Led by DPM researchers Ann Wu, MD, MPH, Lingling Li, PhD, and Alison Galbraith, MD, MPH, the study included 740 providers and parents of children age 4-11 years with one or more diagnoses of asthma and one or more dispensing of asthma controller medications.  Those with severe asthma were excluded.  The parents and providers were surveyed by mail, telephone, web, or in person.   

Study investigators found that 72% of parents knew which class of controller medication the provider had prescribed and 49% knew the administration frequency and the medication class.  A mismatch between parent and provider was more likely to happen if the parents felt the medicine was not helping, or, conversely, if the parent believed their child did not need as much as prescribed. In addition, while only two of the five study locations were able to offer the survey in Spanish, the study found that parents who self-identified as Latino were more likely to have a mismatch. In addition, the investigators found that providers prescribed controller medication for daily use less frequently than currently recommended by national guidelines.

Read more about this study in U.S. News and World Report, American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, health24, HealthNewsDigest, Nature World News, or read the full publication in JACI.