TABLE 1.
Participant Demographic Characteristics, Home Characteristics, and Baseline Asthma Morbidity Characteristics: Philadelphia, PA, 2002–2004
| Characteristic | Immediate Intervention Group (n = 144) | Delayed Intervention Group (n = 120) | P |
| Child's age,a y, mean (SD) | 5.9 (3.3) | 6.2 (3.6) | .44 |
| Boy,b no. (%) | 94 (65) | 80 (67) | .81 |
| Black, non-Hispanic,b no. (%) | 136 (94) | 112 (93) | .74 |
| Caretaker completed high school,b no. (%) | 112 (78) | 97 (81) | .54 |
| Caretaker employed,b no. (%) | 60 (42) | 60 (50) | .18 |
| Housing,b no. (%) | .25 | ||
| Single | 3 (2) | 3 (3) | |
| Row house | 105 (73) | 95 (79) | |
| Apartment | 35 (24) | 19 (16) | |
| Other | 1 (1) | 3 (3) | |
| Environmental triggers,b no. (%) | |||
| Home has carpet | 70 (49) | 70 (58) | .12 |
| Child's bedroom has carpet | 77 (53) | 72 (60) | .29 |
| Mattress in mattress cover | 10 (7) | 9 (8) | .86 |
| Pillow in pillow cover | 6 (4) | 2 (2) | .30 |
| Smoker resides in house | 74 (51) | 58 (48) | .62 |
| Roaches | 70 (49) | 54 (45) | .56 |
| Rodents | 90 (63) | 61 (51) | .06 |
| Furry Pet | 58 (40) | 49 (41) | .93 |
| ED visits in previous year,c average no. per child (SD) | 2.14 (2.20) | 2.51 (2.38) | .17 |
| Inpatient hospitalizations in previous year,c average no. per child (SD) | 0.86 (0.95) | 0.93 (1.04) | .69 |
| Nighttime wheeze,d no. (%) | .47 | ||
| None | 42 (38) | 34 (41) | |
| 1–2 d/wk | 24 (22) | 19 (23) | |
| 2–4 d/wk | 11 (10) | 11 (13) | |
| Every day | 33 (30) | 19 (23) | |
| Nighttime cough,d no. (%) | .73 | ||
| None | 35 (32) | 23 (28) | |
| 1–2 d/wk | 12 (11) | 16 (19) | |
| 2–4 d/wk | 21 (19) | 17 (20) | |
| Every day | 42 (38) | 27 (33) | |
Note. ED = emergency department.
a
By the 2-sample t-test.
b
By the χ2 or Fisher exact test.
c
By the Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
d
By the Kruskal–Wallis test. For the immediate intervention group, n = 110; for the delayed intervention group, n = 83.