TY - JOUR T1 - LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACT: PLEASANT: Preventing and lessening exacerbations of asthma in school-age children associated with a new term JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.OA1993 VL - 48 IS - suppl 60 SP - OA1993 AU - Heather Elphick AU - Michelle Horspool AU - Sarah Davis AU - Mike Bradburn AU - Paul Norman AU - Neil Shephard AU - Cindy Cooper AU - W. Henry Smithson AU - Jonathan Boote AU - Amanda Loban AU - Matthew Franklin AU - Wei Sun Kua AU - Robin May AU - Jenny Campbell AU - Rachael Williams AU - Saleema Rex AU - Steven Julious Y1 - 2016/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/48/suppl_60/OA1993.abstract N2 - Reports have shown peaks in asthma episodes in school-aged children associated with the return to school following the summer vacation (Julious SA et al. Public Health 2007;121(6):482-4). A drop in prescription collection in the month of August has been observed which was associated with an increase in the number of unscheduled contacts after the return to school in September.The aim of the study was to assess whether a primary care intervention reduced the number of unscheduled medical contacts after the school return.A letter was sent from the GP to parents/carers of children aged 5-16 years with asthma at the start of school summer holidays reminding them to take their preventer medication prior to the start of the new school year. The study was a cluster randomised trial with a control group that received usual care.The intervention did not reduce unscheduled care in September (odds-ratio 1.09; 95% CI 0.96 to 1.25) against the intervention. It did succeed in increasing the proportion of children collecting prescriptions in August (odds-ratio 1.43; 95% CI 1.24 to 1.64) as well as scheduled contacts in the same month. For the wider time intervals (Sep-Dec 2013 and Sep-Aug 2014) there was weak evidence of effect. The economic analysis estimated a high probability that the intervention was cost saving.A higher uptake of prescriptions and scheduled contacts in August may indicate that the letter triggered parents to arrange asthma reviews in children whose prescriptions had lapsed. GPs and commissioning groups may wish to implement this intervention in areas with high rates of asthma and low rates of scheduled asthma reviews. ER -