Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of 301 adults with moderate to severe asthma, assigned randomly 1:1 to PT + HV or PT, expressed as frequency (percent) for discrete and mean (±SD) for continuous variables.
| Characteristic | PT + HV N=151 |
PT N=150 |
Total N= 301 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-demographics | |||
| Age (years) | 50 ± 14 | 48 ± 12 | 49 ± 13 |
| Range | 18-88 | 21-78 | 18-88 |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 136 (90.1%) | 134 (89.3%) | 270 (89.7%) |
| Race/Ethnicity | |||
| Non-Hispanic Black/African-American | 116 (76.8%) | 111 (74.0%) | 227 (75.4%) |
| Hispanic or Latino | 31 (20.5%) | 35 (23.3%) | 66 (21.9%) |
| Non-Hispanic White | 1 (0.7%) | 3 (2.0%) | 4 (1.3%) |
| Other | 3 (2.0%) | 1 (0.7%) | 4 (1.3%) |
| Household income | |||
| Less than $30,000 | 119 (79%) | 115 (77%) | 234 (78%) |
| $30,000 - $49,999 | 12 (7.9%) | 7 (4.7%) | 19 (6.3%) |
| $50,000 - $99,999 | 7 (4.6%) | 4 (2.7%) | 11 (3.7%) |
| $100,000 or over | 0 (0%) | 2 (1.3%) | 2 (0.7%) |
| Decline to answer | 13 (8.6%) | 22 (14.7%) | 35 (11.6%) |
| Insurance type | |||
| Medicaid | 90 (59.6%) | 100 (66.7%) | 190 (63.1%) |
| Medicare only | 21 (13.9%) | 8 (5.3%) | 29 (9.6%) |
| Self-pay | 2 (1.3%) | 2 (1.3%) | 4 (1.3%) |
| Commercial with or without Medicare | 38 (25.2%) | 40 (26.7%) | 78 (25.9%) |
| Education attainment (highest level achieved) | |||
| 8th grade or less | 12 (7.9%) | 10 (6.7%) | 22 (7.3%) |
| Some high school | 38 (25.2%) | 29 (19.3%) | 67 (22.3%) |
| High school graduate or G.E.D. | 50 (33.1%) | 61 (40.7%) | 111 (36.9%) |
| Some college or trade school | 34 (22.5%) | 32 (21.3%) | 66 (21.9%) |
| College graduate | 17 (11.3%) | 18 (12.0%) | 35 (11.6%) |
| Literacy | |||
| S-TOFHLA* | 25 ± 14 | 25 ± 13 | 25 ± 13 |
| Minimum, maximum | 0, 36 | 0, 36 | 0, 36 |
| Asthma Numeracy (ANQ)† | 1.2 ± 1.2 | 1.2 ± 1.3 | 1.2 ± 1.2 |
| Minimum, maximum | 0. 4 | 0, 4 | 0, 4 |
| eHEALS‡ owns a cell phone | 25.4 ± 7.7 | 24.8 ± 8.7 | 25.1 ± 8.2 |
| Minimum, maximum | 8, 40 | 8, 40 | 8, 40 |
| Asthma severity at baseline | |||
| # with ≥ 1 hospitalization for asthma in past year | 77 (51.0%) | 74 (49.3%) | 151 (50.2%) |
| # with ≥ 1 ED visit for asthma in past year | 125 (82.8%) | 126 (84.0%) | 251 (83.4%) |
| FEV-1 (percent predicted)§ | 70 ± 22 | 69 ± 23 | 69 ± 23 |
| Minimum, maximum | 11, 118 | 16, 117 | 11, 118 |
| Asthma control (ACQ)∥ | 2.4 ± 1.1 | 2.4 ± 1.2 | 2.4 ± 1.2 |
| Minimum, maximum | 0.1, 5.8 | 0.0, 6.0 | 0.0, 6.0 |
| Asthma-related quality of life (AQLQ)¶ | 3.7 ± 1.4 | 3.6 ± 1.4 | 3.6 ± 1.4 |
| Minimum, maximum | 1, 6.7 | 1, 6.9 | 1, 6.9 |
| Co-morbidities | |||
| Hypertension | 87 (57.6%) | 88 (58.7%) | 175 (58.1%) |
| Diabetes | 50 (33.1%) | 46 (30.7%) | 96 (31.9%) |
| Body Mass Index (BMI) | 35.2 ± 9.6 | 35.4 ± 9.7 | 35.3 ± 9.6 |
| Ever smoked in the past | 80 (53.0%) | 87 (58.0%) | 167 (55.5%) |
| Current smoker | 38 (25.2%) | 46 (30.7%) | 84 (27.9%) |
| Depressive symptoms (CES-D) ** | 83 (55.0%) | 85 (56.7%) | 168 (55.8%) |
S-TOFHLA = Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults39 is a test of reading comprehension. It can be administered in English and Spanish. The score is the number correct 0-26 and a score>23 is adequate reading comprehension
ANQ= Asthma Numeracy Questionnaire is a numeracy scale.42 It is a 4-item questionnaire of numerical concepts (arithmetic, percentage) with the score the number of items correct 0 - 4
eHEALS= eHealth Literacy Scale43 has 8 items graded on a 5-point Likert scale so the score ranges from 8 – 40 with higher score indicating higher electronic literacy.
Note: N=203. 98 patients did not have baseline spirometry because spirometer equipment was not available to the Community Health Worker at the start of the study. For that reason, FEV1 was not used in analysis.
ACQ= Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) has 6 items each scored from 0-6 with lower score indicating better control.29-31
AQLQ = is 15 item Mini Asthma-related Quality of Life Questionnaire.32-34,44 It is scored on a 1 to 7 scale with higher scores indicating better asthma-related quality of life. The AQLQ is a useful indicator of asthma-related quality of life in low-income adults.45
For both ACQ and AQLQ a within-person change of at least 0.5 points is considered clinically meaningful.31,34
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) has 20 items with 4-point Likert scale. The score ranges from 0 to 60 with scores >=16 suggestive of depressive symptoms or general distress.46