Asthma Screening in Schools

Ivanhoe Newswire
Monday, November 13, 2006; 12:00 AM

By Heather Kohn, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

PHILADELPHIA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- More than 6 million kids in the United States have asthma -- many of whom go undiagnosed. Studies show letting the problem go untreated leads to issues like poorer school performance, school absenteeism, and trouble exercising.

As part of an asthma-screening program sponsored by the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, researchers sent 193 kids home with asthma screening questionnaires -- 58 of which were completed and returned. The children were between ages 4 and 13 and attended a private day school.

These along with screening with spirometry and peak flow led to physician referrals of 70 percent of the 44 students with no prior history of asthma.

The researchers conclude school based screening with these methods are effective in identifying suspected asthma in kids.

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SOURCE: Heather Kohn at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology annual meeting in Philadelphia, Nov. 9-15, 2006