Community health worker (CHW)-delivered, home-based environmental interventions for pediatric asthma were systematically reviewed. Seven PubMed/MEDLINE listed randomized controlled trials that encompassed the following intervention criteria were identified: (1) home-based; (2) delivered by a CHW; (3) delivered to families with children with asthma; and (4) addressed multiple environmental triggers for asthma. Details of research design, intervention type, and setting, interventionist, population served, and the evaluated outcomes were abstracted. Outcome assessment was broad and non-uniform. Categories included direct mediators of improved health outcomes, such as trigger-related knowledge, trigger reduction behaviors and allergen or exposure levels, and asthma-related health outcomes: change in lung function, medication use, asthma symptoms, activity limitations, and health care utilization. Indirect mediators of health outcomes, or psychosocial influences on health, were measured in few studies. Overall, the studies consistently identified positive outcomes associated with CHW-delivered interventions, including decreased asthma symptoms, daytime activity limitations, and emergency and urgent care use. However, improvements in trigger reduction behaviors and allergen levels, hypothesized mediators of these outcomes, were inconsistent. Trigger reduction behaviors appeared to be tied to study-based resource provision. To better understand the mechanism through which CHW-led environmental interventions cause a change in asthma-related health outcomes, information on the theoretical concepts that mediate behavior change in trigger control (self-efficacy, social support) is needed. In addition, evaluating the influence of CHWs as clinic liaisons that enhance access to health professionals, complement clinic-based teaching, and improve appropriate use of asthma medications should be considered, alongside their effect on environmental management. A conceptual model identifying pathways for future investigation is presented.

Background: Neighborhoods are critical to understanding how environments influence health outcomes. Prolonged environmental stressors, such as a lack of green spaces and neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, have been associated with higher allostatic load levels. Since allostatic load levels experienced earlier in life have stronger associations with mortality risk, neighborhoods may be uniquely suited to monitor and mitigate the impacts of environmental stressors. Researchers often study allostatic load in neighborhoods by utilizing administrative boundaries within publicly accessible databases as proxies for neighborhoods. Methods: This systematic review of reviews aims to identify commonly used biomarkers in the measurement of allostatic load, compare measurement approaches, inventory databases to study allostatic load, and spotlight considerations referenced in the literature where allostatic load is studied in neighborhoods. The review was conducted using the search term “allostatic load” in the MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsychINFO databases. The search results were filtered to include reviews. Results: The search returned 499 articles after deduplication. Overall, 18 synthesis reviews met the inclusion criteria and were retained for extraction. The synthesis reviews analyzed represented 238 studies published from 1995 to 2020. The original ten biomarkers were most often used to measure allostatic load. More recently, body mass index and C-reactive protein have additionally been frequently used to measure allostatic load burden. Conclusions: The scientific contributions of this study are that we have identified a clear gap in geographic considerations when studying allostatic load. The implication of this study is that we have highlighted geographic concepts when conducting neighborhood-level research using administrative databases as a neighborhood proxy and outlined emerging future trends that can enable future study of allostatic load in the neighborhood context.

Objectives. The effectiveness of community health worker-delivered interventions to decrease environmental triggers for asthma in the home has been well documented in urban populations, but has had little evaluation in rural, Latino/a families. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a home-visitation intervention designed to decrease environmental triggers for pediatric asthma in rural, Latino/a families. Methods. Data from a large community health clinic's pediatric asthma program (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) were used to retrospectively explore associations between program participation and asthma-related health outcomes. Demographic data were collected on 866 patients. Behavioral outcomes were evaluated in 374 participants. A medical record abstraction was conducted in a subsample of 400 patients to evaluate asthma-related urgent care use. Nonparametric tests were used to compare outcomes before and after the intervention. Demographic attributes associated with program participation were examined using logistic regression. Results. Most (91%) participants were Hispanic, and 61% of participants' caregivers were either seasonal or migrant farmworkers. Over half (61%) of the participants did not complete the full intervention. A statistically significant improvement was found in caregivers' abilities to manage asthma medications and adopt behaviors to decrease triggers inside the home. Behaviors related to decreasing outside triggers did not significantly change. Asthma-related urgent care use significantly decreased; however, there was no association between intervention dose and a decrease in urgent care use. Demographic attributes were generally not associated with program completion, having baseline and exit data on intermediate outcomes, and/or inclusion in the chart review. Conclusions. Results suggest that the asthma intervention helped caregivers improve the air quality in their homes and reduce urgent care admissions among pediatric participants. The intervention dose may be less important than taking part in an intervention to the extent feasible or desired by the family. Findings suggest that policy-level interventions need to address reimbursement for home visitation and environmental exposures that are beyond caregiver control, such as support for healthy and affordable housing in farmworker communities.

Self-monitoring asthma control is a key component of asthma management. Few studies have reported usability and acceptability of portable spirometry among young adults with asthma. Portable spirometry offers a practical solution to monitoring airway narrowing at home. The purpose of this paper was to determine if self-administered spirometry is feasible and acceptable in young adults with asthma and whether regular monitoring resulted in improved airway function as measured by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁). Sixty-seven young adults (18-26 years) with self-reported asthma participated in a clinical trial during wildfire season which measured FEV₁ as an outcome measure. Data was collected at baseline, week 4, and week 8 using a portable spirometer linked to a smartphone application. A subset of intervention participants completed spirometry twice daily. Acceptability of self-administered spirometry was evaluated after the trial among participants that volunteered to submit a survey and be interviewed. At baseline, all 67 participants (100.0%) completed their scheduled spirometry readings which declined to 94.0% (n = 63) at week 4 and 86.6% (n = 58) at week 8. Daily readings were completed 83.2% of the time in the mornings and 84.3% of the time in the evenings. Mean FEV₁ values were lower than predicted values, but above the lower limit of expected. FEV₁ remained steady throughout the study period. Over two-thirds of participants used the notes feature in the application and described symptoms, asthma triggers, mitigating actions and test-taking issues. Young adults in our sample were highly compliant with regular, self-administered spirometry.