Widespread asthma screenings for all school children not the answer!

May 17 2007

Widespread asthma screenings for all school children is not currently a practical solution for dealing with undiagnosed asthma, according to a report from the American Thoracic Society (ATS).

A workshop convened by ATS determined that while population screenings make sense in theory, the benefits are unproven for children with asthma. “Screenings do not necessarily improve health outcomes because of the many steps between screening and treatment,” said Lynn Gerald, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., workshop co-chair and assistant director of the UAB Lung Health Center. “Lack of access to health care and lack of patient-adherence are some of the important barriers to effective treatment. Given limited pubic health resources within communities and schools, we should target interventions for children with significant respiratory symptoms.” Gerald notes that screening in areas with a high prevalence of undiagnosed asthma may be reasonable. She also stresses that parents, school personnel and primary health care providers should be attentive to respiratory symptoms in school children.