CHILDHOOD ASTHMA MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (CAMP)

University Of Colorado Denver, Aurora CO

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Childhood Asthma Management Program is a National Heart Lung and Blood Institute sponsored multicenter trial designed to evaluate the effect of two inhaled anti-inflammatory medications, budesonide and nedocromil, compared to as needed albuterol therapy. Primary measures of effect include two indicators of pulmonary function, FEV1 and airway hyperresponsiveness. In addition, secondary measures include evaluating the effect of treatment on growth and development as well as health care utilization. Each patient was followed over an average of 4.3 years on treatment. The treatment phase of this study reached completion in June 1999. This was followed by a four-month wash-out phase to determine whether a treatment effect persists once the treatment is discontinued. We were fortunate to receive additional funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to follow these subjects for an additional four and one-half years. The purpose of the follow-up study is to evaluate the long-term outcomes of the various therapeutic interventions. This is an important study since it is the first one to follow patients in such a carefully monitored system. The results of this study will have a significant impact on how we manage mild to moderate persistent asthma. Up until this time, we have published information on the characteristics of our patient population at the time they entered the study. One of the interesting observations made with this entry data was that pulmonary function, symptoms and airway reactivity seem to increase with the length of time that the patients had asthma. This observation suggests that lung growth is reduced in children with asthma. We will evaluate whether continuous therapeutic intervention with budesonide, nedocromil or as needed therapy based on symptoms, alters lung development and the course of the disease.