The Department of Pediatrics is currently recruiting young children for a large study testing whether vitamin D supplements can reduce the severity of asthma flare-ups triggered by colds.
Is...
- Is your child aged 1 to 5 years of age?
- Has your child been diagnosed with asthma or bronchospasm?
- Has your child received steroid by month (solution or syrup) for asthma during his current hospital visit or in the last 12 months?
- Has the child had ≥ 4 colds in the past 12 months?
- Do the asthma flare-ups appear to be mainly triggered by colds?
If your child fits all 5 criteria, he/she may be eligible to be part of a large Canadian study testing the effect of vitamin D in preschoolers with asthma.
This study will enroll children annually from 2018 to 2024.
Goal
- Evaluate if vitamin D supplementation can reduce the severity of asthma attacks in children between 1 and 5 years old.
Duration
Progress
Clinic VISIT 1 (Day0)
Duration**: about 90-150 minutes
- Nasal swab collection
- Urine and blood samples collection
- Oral administration (by mouth) of a 2 mL dose of liquid Vitamin D or placebo
- Questionnaires on food intake and sun exposure
- Questionnaire on colds and asthma attacks
- Measurement of lung function with oscillometry test, if applicable
Clinic VISIT 2* (3 ½ months)
Duration**: about 90-150 minutes
- Nasal swab collection
- Urine samples collection
- Oral administration (by mouth) of a 2 mL dose of liquid Vitamin D or placebo
- Questionnaire sur l’absentéisme au travail et dépenses reliées aux crises d’asthme de votre enfant
- Questionnaires on food intake and sun exposure
- Questionnaire on colds and asthma attacks
- Measurement of lung function with oscillometry test, if applicable
Clinic VISIT 3* (7 months)
Duration**: about 90 minutes
- Urine and blood samples collection
- Questionnaire sur l’absentéisme au travail et dépenses reliées aux crises d’asthme de votre enfant
- Questionnaires on food intake and sun exposure
- Questionnaire on colds and asthma attacks
- Measurement of lung function with oscillometry test, if applicable
* Or Remote visit by videoconferencing, if applicable
** Excluding the medical visit duration
Between hospital visits
DAILY administration of 1 mL of vitamin D or placebo by parents
Urine sample collection at home (10 days after Visit 1 and after Visit 2)
If the urine test is abnormal: Home visit for blood sample by medical technologist/nurse or by parents with a special kit. Of note, a 2nd urine collection might be repeated first.
Telephone follow-ups by the research nurse
- 7 days after Visits 1 and 2
- Once a month between visits
In case of asthma attack or cold (at home)
- Perform the nasal swab sample on day 2 (or 3 or 4) of each episode
- Fill out the questionnaires (online or on paper)
- Symptoms diary every day throughout the episode
- Quality-of-life questionnaire for the parent at the end of the episode
- Summary of cold or asthma flare-up at the end of the episode