Gorelick 2006.

Methods	STUDY DESIGN: Parallel group 3‐arm study. LOCATION, NUMBER OF CENTRES: Single centre in Milwaukee, USA DURATION OF STUDY: 6 months Outcome assessors were blinded to treatment group allocation
Participants	N SCREENED: 617 N RANDOMISED: 352 N COMPLETED: 275 (baseline presented for completers: PCP group: 95; case manager group: 81; usual care: 99) M = 180 F = 95 MEAN AGE: 6.8 years BASELINE DETAILS: 69% African‐American; Median hospitalisations in past year: 2; 40% live in household with a smoker; 60% have public insurance INCLUSION CRITERIA: 2 to 18 years; treated at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin ED for acute asthma EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Families in which none of the primary care givers were English‐speaking; other lung disease; presence of tracheostomy; previous treatment with case manager
Interventions	EDUCATION GROUP 1 (PCP group): Educational intervention comprising: videotape shown during ED visit, teaching of proper use of peak‐flow meter & inhaler technique instruction, provision of acute asthma medications, instruction to follow‐up with primary care provider (PCP) within 1 week, written asthma care plan; 2. Intensive primary care linkage: copy of the ED chart & letter recommending asthma care plan, sent to primary care provider's (PCP) office; PCP contacted to establish whether follow‐up appointment had been made. Contact made with participants to ask whether appointment had been scheduled and assistance offered if this had not been done; follow‐up calls repeated until appointment had been reported. Visit verified with PCP; final contact made at 14 days to establish that PCP visit had taken place. In absence of PCP, parents instructed to contact insurance company for approved PCP or where no insurance/Medicaid contact recommended with clinics accepting new patients in the area. EDUCATION GROUP 2 (Case manager group): Same interventions as listed for 1 and 2 above, plus: 3. Assignment to case manager who made home visits & telephone calls during the 6‐month follow‐up period. During these visits and calls, the case manager assessed asthma needs; instigated personalised care plan for all the family; provided asthma education by using a pack of educational materials and made onwards referrals as appropriate. CONTROL GROUP: Usual care including educational intervention and discharge planning as detailed in PCP and 1 TREATMENT PERIOD: For PCP group: 14 days; for case manager group: 6 months. FOLLOW‐UP PERIOD: 6 months post‐ED visit
Outcomes	ED visits; quality of life
Notes	Average visits 4 per patient in case manager group
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Adequate sequence generation?	Low risk	Computer‐generated list
Allocation concealment?	Low risk	Sequentially number opaque sealed envelope
Incomplete outcome data addressed? All outcomes	High risk	Available case