Table 1 Characteristics and key findings of studies included

Naar et al. [28]

RCT

1 year

12–16 years old; mean = 13 years

Psychologists, social workers

African American

Moderate Severe

A, B, C, D

ED visits: NS; Hospitalizations: decreased by 72% in intervention group vs 48% in control; FEV₁: improved by 9.8% in intervention group vs 4.5% in control; Frequency of asthma symptoms: decreased by 48% in intervention group vs 3.4% in control

Kennedy et al. [9]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

5–12 years old; mean = 7.8 years

Nurses

African American = 9%; Hispanic = 83%; Others = 8%

Moderate Severe

A, B, C

Urgent visits: intervention group = 53% vs control = 74%; Hospitalizations: intervention group = 5%, control = 14%; Asthma symptom days: mean change in intervention group = -3.3 days, control = -2.28 days (p < 0.001); Short-acting medication uses: intervention group = 32%, control = 62% (p < 0.01)

Bird et al. [10]

Pre-post intervention

3 years

1–18 years old; mean = 5.3 years

Nurses, asthma educators, asthma care facilitators

Unspecified

Not specified

A, B, C, E

ED visits: decreased by 57% in intervention group vs NS change in control; Hospitalizations decreased by 74% in intervention group vs NS change in control; PAQLQ significantly improved in intervention group: activity limitation scores increased by 5.6 units, emotional function scores increased by 9.1 units

Clark et al. [29]

Retrospective cohort

5 years

2–18 years old

CHWs

African American = 62–64%; Caucasian = 7–15%

Not specified

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Hazard of having a ED visit, hospitalization and urgent care visit during the study period was 6%-7% higher (p < 0.01–0.02) for children in comparison group than those with intervention

Holder-Niles et al. [11]

Pre-post intervention

2 years

4–15 years old; mean = 13.4 years

Physicians, nurse practitioners, asthma educators, social workers, community resource specialists, research assistants

African American = 62%; Hispanic = 14%; Caucasian = 3%; Others = 22%

Not specified

A, B, C, D, E

ED visits: decreased by 63%; Urgent care visits: decreased by 40%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 69%

Janevic et al. [12]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

0–18 years old

Nurses, health educators, CHWs

African American = 50.4%; Hispanic = 42.1%; Caucasian = 1.7%; Others = 5.3%

Severe

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

ED visits: decreased by 63%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 69%; Symptom days: decreased by 2.2 days/month; Symptom nights decreased by 1.9 nights/month

Kercsmar et al. [13]

Pre-post intervention

6 years

2–17 years old

Physicians, social workers, respiratory therapists, nurses, care coordinators, pharmacists

Unspecified

Not specified

A, B, C, D, E, G

ED visits: decreased by 42.4%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 41.8%

Lara et al. [14]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

Mean age = 5 years

CHWs, community nurses, physicians, environmental counsellors

Hispanic

Moderate Severe

A, B, C

ED visits: decreased by 45%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 62%; Symptom days: decreased by 72%; Symptom nights: decreased by 68%; Asthma symptom scores: decreased by 38%; Short-acting medication uses: decreased by 76%

Lob et al. [15]

Pre-post intervention

2 years

0–18 years old; mean = 7.4 years

Health educators, CHWs, medical assistants, respiratory therapists

African American = 11%; Hispanic = 77%; Caucasian = 6%; Others = 6%

Severe

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

ED visits: decreased by 68%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 69%; Symptom days: decreased by 73%; Symptom nights: decreased by73%; Night-time symptoms decreased by 67%; Short-acting medications uses decreased by 67%; School absenteeism: decreased by 53%; work absenteeism decreased by 55%

Mansfield et al. [16]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

0.6–19 years old; mean = 8 years

Nurses, health educators, CHWs

African American = 50%; Hispanic/others = 37%; Caucasian = 13%

Moderate

Severe

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

ED visits: decreased by 51%; Hospitalizations decreased by 55%; Symptom days: decreased by 56%; Symptom nights: decreased by 55%; Days with rescue med use decreased by 1.91 days; School absenteeism: decreased by 57%

Rapp et al. [17]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

2–18 years old; mean = 5 years

Asthma educators, CHWs

African American = 88%; Caucasian = 7%

Not specified

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

ED visits: decreased by 46%; Hospitalizations: NS; Short-acting medication uses: NS; Asthma symptoms: improved significantly

Woods et al. [18]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

2–18 years old; mean = 7.9 years

Nurses

African American = 40%; Hispanic = 52%

Not specified

A, B, C, E, F, G

ED visits: decreased by 68%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 84.8%; Activity limitation days: decreased by 56%; School absenteeism: decreased by 41%; Work absenteeism: decreased by 49.7%

Dor et al. [19]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

5–12 years old

Nurses

Unspecified

Not specified

A, B, C

Urgent care visits: mean change = -0.405 visits (p < 0.001); Hospitalizations: mean change = -0.305 (p < 0.001); Symptom-free days: mean change = 6.319(p < 0.001); Probability of being short-acting asthma medication user decreased by 19.1%; Probability of being long acting asthma medication user increased by 30%; School absenteeism: mean changes = -0.973 days (p < 0.001)

Findley et al. [20]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

0–18 years old

Nurses, health educators, CHWs

African American & Hispanic

Not specified

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

ED visits: decreased by 49%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 45%; School absenteeism: decreased by 83%; 81% obtained AAP from health professional post-intervention; 73% reporting daily controller use post-intervention

Fisher et al. [21]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

5–14 years old; mean = 9.5 years

CHWs

African American

Not specified

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Acute care visits: NS; Index of Asthma Attitudes: NS; Asthma management index: NS

Fox et al. [22]

Pre-post intervention

2 years

5–18 years old; mean = 10.1 years

CHWs, physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses

African American = 14.3%; Caucasian = 2.2%; Hispanic = 81.7%; others = 1.7%

Moderate Severe

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

ED visits: decreased by 68%; Acute care visits: decreased by 64%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 80%; Symptom days: decreased by 69%; Symptom nights: decreased by 83%; Short-acting medication uses: decreased by 72%

Britto et al. [23]

Pre-post intervention

4 years

Teenagers (age range unspecified)

Nurses, nurse practitioners

African American

Moderate Severe

A, C, F, G

ED visits: NS; Hospitalizations: NS; ACT score: proportion of patients with ACT score 25 increased from 10 to 30%

Portnoy et al. [24]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

5–12 years old

Social workers

African American = 70%; Caucasian = 12%; Hispanic = 12%; Others = 4%

Moderate Severe

A, B, C, D, F

ED visits: NS; Hospitalizations: NS; AAP uses: increased by 34%; Controller medication uses: increased by 12%

Thyne et al. [25]

Pre-post intervention

2 years

0–18 years old; mean = 7.3 years

CHWs, physicians, nurse practitioners

African American = 43%; Hispanic = 43%; Asian = 11%; Others = 3%

Not specified

A, B, C, E, F, G

Symptom days: decreased by 45%; Symptom nights: decreased by 46%; Activity limitation days: decreased by 39%; FEV1: NS; Controller medication uses: increased by 127%; AAP uses: increased from < 1% to 100% (p < 0.001)

Turky et al. [26]

Pre-post intervention

1 year

0–17 years old

Community health educators

African American

Not specified

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

ED visits: decreased by 49%; Urgent care visits decreased by 58%; Hospitalizations: decreased by 71%; School absenteeism: decreased by 70%; Work absenteeism: decreased by 64%

Krieger et al. [27]

Randomized controlled trial

1 year

4–12 years old; mean = 7.4 years

CHWs

African American = 31.9%; Hispanic = 17.4%; Caucasian = 12.3%; Vietnamese = 25.4%; Asian = 9.4%; Others = 3.6%

Not specified

A, B, C, F, G

Urgent visits: decreased by 15%; Symptom days: decreased by 4.7 days; School absenteeism: NS; Work absenteeism: NS; Short-acting medication uses: NS