Every Breath You Take: Circumstances Surrounding African American Parents/Guardians’ Decision To Take Their Child To The Emergency Department For An Asthma Event

Background: This study is based on Shaw and O’Neil’s (2014) exploration as to how parents balanced their lives in reference to having a child with asthma. Parents were asked what criteria they used to determine that their child needed to go to the emergency department (ED) for asthma. However, only two African Americans were included. In order to address this gap, the current study focused only on African American families as they are disproportionately affected by asthma and more likely to visit the ED compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Purpose: To explore the criteria used by parents of African American children ages 5 and under to determine if their child should seek care from the ED for a suspected asthma emergency. Methods: Grounded Theory qualitative methodology was used to identify patterns of behavior through recorded interviews with African American parents of children 5 years of age and under admitted to Kosair Children’s Hospital (KCH) for an asthma exacerbation. Parents were asked the process they went through prior to deciding to take child to the ED and how they may use the experience or information received to prevent future ED visits for asthma. Results: Parents (n=6 to date) indicated weather conditions were triggers of their child’s asthma exacerbation; none of the children had allergy testing. Retractions were reported in all children. Some parents used nonmedical treatments such as steam and a de-humidifier. Conclusions: Parents consistently indicated only a vague understanding of child’s specific asthma triggers and identified various characteristics of troubled breathing and lack of response to the nebulizer treatment as reasons they would bring their child into the ED. Parents were dismayed at the amount of information that previous healthcare providers had not provided them with and the depth of information they needed to adequately control their child’s asthma