Kids 2 Be & Breathe: A Study on the Use of Yoga and Mindfulness in Children With Severe Asthma (K2B2)

Pre-Intervention Assessment: permission/assent from the child and consent of the parent/guardian will be obtained and initial data and measurements will be collected to ensure continued eligibility; baseline measures will be assessed.

Intervention: participants will engage in a one-time manualized, age appropriate, 1:1, 30-minute intervention involving gentle yoga and mindfulness techniques in a private room in the Pediatric Research Unit at the Children's Hospital of Richmond. The intervention will be taught by certified and experienced child yoga instructors who have been trained in the study protocol by the applicant. These yoga instructors collaborated with the interdisciplinary research team in the development of manualized age-appropriate yoga sequences. Parents/guardians will be invited to observe the yoga session. Intervention fidelity will be maintained through the use of a manualized intervention and the PI observing all sessions for manual consistency. The intervention will cease if the participant suffers from any asthma symptoms during the intervention, such as wheezing, coughing, retractions, accessory muscle use, chest tightness or shortness of breath, or experiences any other adverse events which precludes the his or her ability to actively participate in the intervention.

Post-Intervention Assessment: upon completion of the intervention, brief semi-structured interviews will be conducted with the child and parent/guardian separately in order to explore the acceptability of the intervention and the PI will again assess the child for any asthma symptoms or adverse events. Post-intervention pulmonary function test and vital sign measurements will then be collected.

Inclusion criteria

• on medium to high doses of steroids and/or leukotriene inhibitors
• a Child-Asthma Control Test Score <21

Exclusion criteria

• inability to speak English (child); inability to read/write English (parent/guardian)
• child hospitalized in past two weeks for their asthma
• current illness associated with oral temperature >100.4
• pulse ox <95% and/or any wheezing, retractions or accessory muscle use