Funders:

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

 

Collaborators:
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia 
Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia 
Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Australia 
Northern Territory Government, Darwin, Australia 
The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia 
University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia 
Asthma Foundation of the Northern Territory 
Newcastle University, Newcastle, Australia 
Perth Children’s Hospital, Perth, Australia 
Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia 
Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom  
 
Aims:
Early and reliable wheeze detection combined with an evidence-based management approach will lead to improved diagnosis and outcomes. An easy to use management plan based on detecting wheeze objectively is required and what this study seeks to evaluate.
 
Objectives:

Our study seeks to improve the management of pre-school wheeze with a proposed intervention (bundle) that includes the use of a clinically validated device (WheezeScan) that detects wheeze and a wheeze management plan. Our study also aims to identify an objective phenotype of pre-schoolers who wheeze by looking at biomarkers in saliva, blood and urine of our participants.

Summary:

Wheeze in pre-schoolers is a prognosis that is associated with poor future lung function and a high burden to parents and the health system with high medication use, unplanned emergency visits and economic costs. Currently, the lack of an accepted pre-school wheeze management approach is due in part to the poor and unreliable detection of wheeze. Failing to recognise wheeze can delay diagnosis, especially if it is recurrent, which then increases parental burden, exacerbations, hospitalisations and doctor visits. 

Implications for policy and practice:

With the use of the WheezeScan device and an intervention bundle that assists parents with the management of their child’s wheeze, our randomised controlled trail hopes to show that proper wheeze management will lead to reduced doctors visits and improved quality of life for children/families, including those living in rural and remote regions. Our secondary outcome is that the use of the intervention bundle will reduce the burden on the healthcare system
 

Chief Investigator: 

Professor Anne Chang

Project Manager: 

Sophie Worley

Contact information: 

Lesley.Versteegh@menzies.edu.au
Rebecca.Challenger@menzies.edu.au

Project dates:

The project commenced in 2025