Houston Asthma Study
Houston Home-Based Integrated Intervention Targeting Better Asthma Control (HIIT-BAC) in African Americans
In 2013, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute awarded the Baylor College of Medicine Environmental Health Service a grant to examine the effectiveness of a home-based environmental intervention program to improve asthma control and quality of life among African-American adults in the Houston area.
The HIITBAC study included 263 African-American adults (18+) with poorly controlled asthma, who live in Harris County. All participants visited Baylor's Environmental Health Clinic two times over one year, learned more about their asthma, received tailored self-management and trigger avoidance education, and received tools to make their homes healthier. The intervention group received a home environmental assessment and series of four home visits to address specific exposures, assist with medical compliance, and help with related issues interfering with asthma control. All participants were compensated and had the opportunity to receive tools to improve asthma control and home safety.
The study hypothesized that the addition of a holistic, home-based environmental exposure reduction and asthma control intervention to enhanced in-clinic care will result in statistically significant improvements in key measures of health and quality of life among Houston-area African American adults with poorly controlled asthma. More information about the study design is available in a paper published in Contemporary Clinical Trials. See PCORI's public summary or clinicaltrials.gov.for additional information about the study design and results.
The study team hosted a town hall meeting on World Asthma Day (May 1, 2018). They shared preliminary findings from the study and offered participants the opportunity to give ideas about how we can make Houston more lung-healthy.