Exploring Caregiver Preferences for Interventions on Child Asthma Exacerbation Risk: An Observational Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Maintaining control of asthma symptoms (hereafter, asthma control) is a cornerstone of national asthma treatment guidelines. However, despite the availability of effective asthma treatment, suboptimal asthma control and asthma exacerbations among young people are common and are burdensome for both caregivers and their children. OBJECTIVE To inform future intervention development by (a) assessing interest in potential intervention programs and preferences in delivery methods among caregivers of children with asthma, and (b) evaluating whether these interests and preferences vary between caregivers of children with high (vs. low) risk of poor asthma outcomes. METHODS U.S. caregivers of children with asthma (N = 394) reported their interest in nine programs and eight delivery methods. We classified caregivers as high-risk if their child had an exacerbation in the past three months and as low-risk if they did not. To assess interest and preferences, we calculated frequencies, percentages, and means. To evaluate whether interest and preferences varied by risk status, we performed t-tests between high and low risk groups. Then we identified the proportion of caregivers who indicated they had “a lot” of interest in each program. Finally, we analyzed open-ended text responses to identify common themes. RESULTS Caregivers of a high-risk child reported greater interest than caregivers of a low-risk child in all programs and methods. Regardless of risk status, caregivers expressed the greatest interest in programs to increase their child’s self-management ability and to help pay for asthma care. They expressed the greatest interest in delivery methods that maintained personal privacy and control over accessing the information (websites, videos, and printed materials). Qualitative findings supported the quantitative results. CONCLUSIONS The similar preferences of high- and low-risk caregivers suggests that both groups seek support in managing their child’s asthma. Providers would best help caregivers by directing them toward resources that make asthma care more affordable, helping their child with asthma self-management, and respecting caregivers’ privacy concerns and desires to control their access to asthma information.