[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78925-78926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32497]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-12-11AN]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 639-5960 or send an email to 
[email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-
5806. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this 
notice.

Proposed Project

    Asthma Education Study: Making Health Care Providers Better Asthma 
Educators--New-National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and 
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)/Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 17.5 million non-
institutionalized adults have asthma. In addition, 7.1 million children 
in this country have the disorder. Asthma accounts for 17 million 
health care visits and more than 3,400 deaths per year. All of these 
data are for the United States. Except for a few cases linked to 
occupational exposures, the causes of asthma remain unknown, and there 
exists no cure. In the absence of means to eliminate the disorder, 
treatment to minimize the frequency and intensity of asthmatic attacks 
is of paramount importance. Several tools are available, including the 
use of corticosteroids and control of exposure to allergens and 
irritants, collectively known as ``triggers.'' Thus, treatment of 
asthma is important and patients must take action at appropriate times. 
From this, it follows that the education provided by health care 
providers to asthmatic patients forms a critical link in efforts to 
control asthma. CDC and the National Institutes of Health recommend the 
use of written asthma action plans to guide patient self-management of 
the disorder. Some states have also developed tools. In the case of 
Minnesota, this is an interactive program on the Internet.
    Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is substantial variability 
in the use of available tools for developing written asthma action 
plans. Similarly, patient education appears to vary in type and amount. 
Some causes of this are suspected: Billing codes for asthma education 
are not universally present and the degree of health literacy among 
patients varies and is likely not universally sufficient. Nevertheless, 
in large part, the factors influencing asthma education by health care 
providers are unknown. To help address this situation, the Air 
Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch of CDC wishes to conduct a 
study to identify barriers to, and facilitators of, asthma education 
among health care providers consistent with National Asthma Education 
and Prevention Program (NAEPP)/National Heart, Lung, and Blood 
Institute Expert Panel Report 3: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and 
Management of Asthma.
    Close to 25 million Americans currently suffer with asthma, with 12 
million experiencing an asthma ``attack'' in 2009, costing the nation 
$56 billion and individuals on average over $3,200 annually in direct 
and indirect costs. Improved self-management education, consistent with 
the NIH/NAEPP guidelines, for enhancing education of persons with 
asthma in the areas of correct medication adherence and avoidance of 
environmental triggers of asthma attacks, is central to reducing the 
health burden and financial burden on individuals and the nation. This 
research is an important step in improving the education individuals 
with asthma (or parents of children with asthma) receive at their 
initial diagnosis encounter with the medical system. As such it is 
expected to improve proper medication adherence and avoidance of 
environmental triggers of an asthma attack and in turn to be of use to 
the government in reducing both the medical and financial burden of 
asthma on the nation. In this aspect, this research is directly in line 
with both the mission of the CDC National Asthma Control Program, its 
funder, which seeks to achieve reductions in deaths and 
hospitalizations and increases in self-management education for 
individuals with asthma and that Program's Government Performance and 
Results Act Performance Measure: Increase the proportion of those with 
current asthma who report they have received self-management training 
for asthma in populations served by CDC funded state asthma control 
programs. The research project is also in alignment with Healthy People 
2020 objectives including reducing asthma deaths (objective RD-1), 
reducing

[[Page 78926]]

hospitalizations for asthma (objective RD-2), reducing hospital 
emergency department visits for asthma (objective RD-3), reducing 
activity limitations among persons with asthma (objective RD-4), 
reducing the number of school or work days missed by persons with 
asthma because of asthma (objective RD-5), increasing the proportion of 
persons with asthma who receive formal patient education (objective RD-
6), and increasing the proportion of persons with asthma who receive 
appropriate asthma care according to the NAEPP guidelines (objective 
RD-7). There are no costs to the respondents other than their time. The 
total estimated annual burden hours are 40 hours total.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                                      Average
                                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per
          Type of respondent                    Form name           respondents    responses per   response  (in
                                                                                    respondent        hours)
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Physician and Nurse...................  Screener................              48               1            5/60
Physician.............................  Interview...............              24               1           30/60
Nurse.................................  Focus Group.............              24               1               1
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    Dated: December 14, 2011.
Daniel Holcomb,
Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2011-32497 Filed 12-19-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P