Studies that included students from six to 18 years old with asthma, that focused on self-care/self-management interventions of asthma delivered at least partially at school via any methods of delivery were eligible for inclusion. Studies had to report one or more of the following interventions: teaching and reinforcement of proper inhaler technique; instruction to expand and improve working knowledge of asthma; reinforcement and training on following written action (treatment plans); and/or maintenance therapies, emphasis and teaching on monitoring lung function. Studies that involved parents or caregivers during interventions or studies that were intended to screen students for asthma were excluded.
The outcomes of interest were the number of missed school days, and the number of emergency department visits and/or hospital admissions within one year of study completion.
Included studies were conducted the USA, China, Australia and Canada. Some studies targeted lower elementary students only and some studies only targeted older high-school students. The type of intervention and duration of the education session varied between studies. The interventions were delivered in multiple sessions over short consecutive time periods that ranged from one month to one and a half months. Half of the studies used some variation of Open Airways for Students asthma education program as their intervention.
The authors did not state how many reviewers selected studies for inclusion.