A study of guidelines for the management of children with asthma in primary schools within Birmingham

A postal questionnaire concerning guidelines for the management of asthma was sent to every primary school in Birmingham. 203 (62.3%) responded. Within these schools the mean prevalence of asthma ranged from 7.1% to 9.2%. In the day to day management of asthma, 97 (47.8%) schools allowed children to keep their own inhalers and 188 (92.6%) allowed inhalers to be used when required. There was a designated member of staff responsible for asthmatic children in 54.2% of schools with 37.9% of responding schools having a policy for the management of asthma. It was found that if a school had a policy for asthma care, they were less likely to have a designated person responsible for asthmatic children (p < 0.01). Training was predominantly through First aid courses and it was thought that the majority of staff would recognise an acute asthma attack. However, schools were less likely to have received training if there was no designated member of staff for the care of children with asthma (p < 0.001).