Child care provider knowledge and self-reported comfort in caring for young children with asthma

The purpose of this study was to examine child care providers knowledge and selfreported comfort in caring for children with asthma. Participants included 338 child care providers attending three Georgia Early Childhood Institute conferences during 2003-2004. The majority of participants were lead (40.6%) or assistant teachers (33.4%), and held a high school or GED diploma (54.6%). Data was collected using the Asthma Knowledge and Training Needs of Child Care Providers Survey (Bales, Coleman, & Wallinga, 2003). Data analysis consisted of several one-way analysis of variance tests and a correlation test. Analyses revealed that specific knowledge differed according to accreditation status of the work place, while perceived knowledge differed by asthma training, the presence of asthma guidelines, and personal experience with asthma. Self-reported comfort differed only in regard to child care providers asthma training.