Asthma affects 1.1 million children in the UK. Asthma attacks are frightening for the child and their family.
Current guidelines say that recent asthma control (symptoms) should guide the treatment used to prevent asthma attacks. Spirometry is a simple breathing test which could be used alongside asthma control (symptoms) to help guide preventer treatment and reduce the number of asthma attacks. The results from the SPIROMAC study will help us understand whether using spirometry to help guide preventer treatment can reduce the number of asthma attacks in children.
We will answer the question “In children with asthma does spirometry and symptom guided treatment, compared to symptom guided treatment alone, reduce the number of asthma attacks?”
We will recruit 550 children aged 6-15 years with asthma from across the UK who have had an asthma attack in the last year.
Children may be eligible to take part in SPIROMAC if they are:
• Aged 6-15 years
• Have asthma
• Have had an asthma attack (treated with oral corticosteroids) in the last 12 months
• Be able to complete the spirometry breathing test.
Please see “Where can I take part?” to check if your local hospital or GP practice is participating.
If you would like to know more about SPIROMAC, including information about taking part, please contact the SPIROMAC study office at the University of Aberdeen on 01224 438089 / 438084 / 438199 or email spiromac@abdn.ac.uk.
The local research teams at the hospitals/GP practices that are taking part in the SPIROMAC study may approach you about taking part in the study.
But if you think your child is eligible for the study, and would like to take part, please do get in touch with us at spiromac@abdn.ac.uk or telephone 01224 438089 / 438084 / 438199 and we will put you in touch with your local research team.
The SPIROMAC study will answer the question “In children with asthma does spirometry and symptom guided treatment, compared to symptom guided treatment alone, reduce the number of asthma attacks?”
To answer this question, children who take part in SPIROMAC will be put into one of two groups:
• A group where their asthma preventer treatment is guided only by their asthma symptoms
OR
• A group where their asthma preventer treatment is guided by both their asthma symptoms and spirometry.
Children who take part in SPIROMAC will be in the study for 12 months, and during this time, they will be seen by their local research team every three months.
You can read more about the SPIROMAC study in the participant information leaflet below.
Funding acknowledgement
This project (NIHR 129819) is funded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme, an MRC and NIHR partnership. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the MRC, NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
The project is run by the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian.
Participant Information
University of Aberdeen/NHS Grampian is the sponsor for this study based in the United Kingdom. We will be using information from you and your medical records in order to undertake this study and will act as the data controller for this study. This means that we are responsible for looking after your information and using it properly. University of Aberdeen/NHS Grampian will keep identifiable information about you at least 10 years after the study has finished.
Your rights to access, change or move your information are limited, as we need to manage your information in specific ways in order for the research to be reliable and accurate. If you withdraw from the study, we will keep the information about you that we have already obtained. To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally-identifiable information possible.
You can find out more about how we use your information here :
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/about/privacy/research-participants-938.php or by contacting the Data Protection office at dpa@abdn.ac.uk