Examining the Impact of a Dual-Language Intervention on Hispanic Children’s Asthma Health Outcomes
Sharon D. Horner, Megan C.T. HebdonIntroduction
Asthma disproportionately affects children who are racial or ethnic minorities and those from poorer families. This study examined how the language spoken in the home affected asthma care and health outcomes for school-aged Hispanic children diagnosed with asthma.
Methods
A randomized controlled trial was conducted over 12 months to test the effectiveness of a parent-child asthma education intervention on asthma outcomes. Baseline analyses were run to identify differences between Spanish-speaking and English-speaking Hispanic families. RM-ANOVA examined changes from baseline to 12-months in health outcomes. Within each group, participants were sorted by language, then ANOVA were run on 12-month data to determine if post-intervention changes were similar within the assigned groups.
Results
The Spanish-speaking families had significantly lower socio-economic status than their English-speaking Hispanic peers. The intervention significantly improved the treatment group's inhaler skill, asthma severity, and quality of life. There were no differences within either treatment or control group when comparing language spoken; the intervention improved health outcomes for both the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking treatment group participants.
Conclusion
Intervention delivery by trained bilingual teachers using dual-language education materials was effective in supporting family asthma management and improving children's health.