Impact of Multi-Component Intervention on Suspected Asthma Population (POPMIX-Asthma)

Population Medicine Multimorbidity Intervention in Xishui on a Suspected Asthma Population: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Study Participants: Suspected asthma population, defined as individuals whose score of asthma screening questionnaire used in ECRHS study exceeds 0 and whose age is 35 and above.

Intervention: Within the intervention arm, we have constructed a population-based pay-for-performance mechanism to encourage medical practitioners to care for population health. For study participants in the intervention arm, we will ask them to finish an online ECRHS questionnaire with notification of his or her suspected asthma status. Individuals whose score of ECRHS asthma screening exceeds 0 will be given a face-to-face survey, simple physical examination, pulmonary function tests, and provide a multi-component intervention at baseline. For suspected asthma population in the intervention arm, we provide community-based spirometry pulmonary function test (PFT) and education; If individuals whose FEV1 improved by ≥12% and ≥200 mL following bronchodilator administration with 400 ug salbutamol, they will be spirometry-defined undiagnosed asthma patient and will be encouraged to seek treatment and medication to the superior hospitals. Additionally, we provide (1) two digital health intervention programs to smokers and individuals with mental health issues; (2) CBT-based health education for study participants with abnormal BMI; (3) active recruitment into National Essential Public Health Program in China for those with abnormal blood pressure and blood glucose. Intensive follow-ups will be conducted at month 3 (telephone interview), month 6 (face-to-face with full steps of physical examination), and month 12.

Comparison: Those who are assigned in the control arm, we will ask them to finish the same ECRHS online questionnaire with notification of his or her suspected asthma status and a face-to-face survey. No physical examinations, community-based pulmonary function tests will be given.

Outcomes: The primary outcomes are asthma knowledge, lung function testing, and ACT score at month 12.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Multimorbidity; Chronic Asthma; Population Medicine
• Intervention / Treatment: Combination product: Multi-component Intervention Package

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 9194
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Guizhou
    • Zunyi, Guizhou, China
      • Xishui County for Xishui Trial

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 35 and above;
• Score of ECRHS asthma screening questionnaire exceeds 0;
• Residents who have lived in one township over the past 3 months and plan to reside in the same township in the upcoming year;
• Finished the informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnancy and other conditions that are not allowed to finish pulmonary function tests;
• Severe cognitive disorder or total loss of capability of daily living

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention arm; Within the intervention arm, all medical practitioners will be incentivized by a pay-for-population mechanism within their township. First, finish a ECRHS questionnaire with notification of suspected asthma risk status. Those noticed will be given a face-to-face survey, simple physical examination, pulmonary function tests, and provide a multi-component intervention at baseline. For suspected asthma population, we provide community-based spirometry PFT and education; If individuals whose FEV1 improved by ≥12% and ≥200 mL, they will be undiagnosed asthma patients and encouraged to seek treatment to the superior hospitals. We provide (1) two digital health intervention programs to smokers and individuals with mental health issues; (2) CBT-based health education for study participants with abnormal BMI; (3) active recruitment into National Essential Public Health Program for those with abnormal blood pressure and glucose. Intensive follow-ups will be conducted at month 3, 6, 12.	Combination product: Multi-component Intervention Package; Community-based spirometry pulmonary function tests and result interpretations and health education for asthma;; A digital health intervention program, NicQuit, for smokers(very familiar with intelligent mobile phone);; A digital health intervention program, EmoEase, for individuals whose WEMWBS questionnaire score is lower than 45(very familiar with intelligent mobile phone);; Health education to smokers for smoking cessation;; Health education to individuals with mental health issues;; Encouragement to seek professional medication treatment in superior hospitals for undiagnosed asthma patients;; To actively include individuals whose blood pressure's higher than 140/90 mmHg or/and whose random blood glucose higher than 11.1 mmol/L into the National Essential Public Health Service in China;; A CBT-based health education to the BMI abnormal, i.e., BMI > 24.0 or BMI < 18.5;; Pay-for-population mechanism for medical practitioners.
No Intervention: Control Arm; Those who are assigned in the control arm, we will ask them to finish the same ECRHS asthma screening online questionnaire with notification of his or her suspected asthma status and a face-to-face survey. No physical examinations, community-based pulmonary function tests will be given.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Chronic Diseases Controlled	Among all objectively measured diseases (asthma, COPD, BMI, hypertensions, type 2 diabetes, depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms), the number of chronic diseases controlled defined by objective measurement at month 12.	1 year
Lung function testing	Definition: Have you ever had a pulmonary function test?; Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
ACT score	Definition: Asthma Control Test score Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question; Introduction to ACT score: Asthma control test (ACT), ranging from 0 to 25, the lower the score, the better asthma controlled.	1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
FEV1 measurement	Definition: Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1); Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Pulmonary function test, portable spirometry;	1 year
Blood pressure	Definition: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mmHg); Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Omron portable automatic blood pressure monitor;	1 year
Blood Glucose	Definition: Reference standard for average plasma glucose concentration over a period of time; Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Blood glucose meter;	1 year
Waist circumference	Definition: Waist circumference (cm); Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Soft measuring tape;	1 year
BMI	Definition: Body mass index (BMI), weight divided by height squared (kg/m²); Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Calculation;	1 year
T2DM Control	Definition: Blood glucose within the normal range at the end-of-year follow-up; Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Blood glucose measurement;	1 year
Drinking Status	Definition: Frequency of alcohol consumption in the past 3 months; Variable type: Categorical; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Sugar Consumption	Definition: Frequency of consumption of sugary foods/drinks; Variable type: Categorical; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Salted Vegetables Consumption	Definition: Frequency of consumption of salty vegetables; Variable type: Categorical; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Vegetable Consumption	Definition: Frequency of consumption of vegetable; Variable type: Categorical; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Bronchial Asthma Screening	Definition: Have you ever been screened for bronchial asthma by a doctor? Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Bronchial Asthma Diagnosis	Definition: Have you ever been diagnosed with bronchial asthma? Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Bronchial Asthma Treatment	Definition: Have you followed the treatment therapy from the professional physicians for asthma? Variable Type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Bronchial Asthma Control	Definition: ACT score to categorize whether controlled or not Variable Type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Family level annual consumption expenditure	Definition: Annual total household expenditure Variable type: Categorical Measurement: Answer to a question covering local expenditure categories by the household representative	1 year
Employment status	Definition: Main occupation and type; Variable type: Categorical; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
HBP Screening	Definition: Have you ever had your blood pressure measured by a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare professional? Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
HBP Diagnosis	Definition: Have you ever been diagnosed with hypertension by a doctor? Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
HBP Treatment	Definition: Are you currently taking any antihypertensive medication prescribed by a doctor or other healthcare professional? Variable type: Binary Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question	1 year
HBP Control	Definition: Blood pressure within the normal range at the end-of-year follow-up; Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Blood pressure measurement;	1 year
T2DM Screening	Definition: Have you ever had your blood glucose measured by a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare professional? Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
T2DM Diagnosis	Definition: Have you ever been diagnosed with T2DM by a doctor? Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
T2DM Treatment	Definition: Are you currently receiving a type 2 diabetes treatment plan prescribed by a doctor or other healthcare professional? Variable type: Binary Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question	1 year
Smoking Status	Definition: Do you currently smoke? Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question ;	1 year
Smoking Amount	Definition: How many cigarettes do you smoke per day on average? Variable type: Count; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Self-awareness of COPD	Definition: Have you ever been diagnosed with COPD? Variable type: Binary; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
COPD-Knowledge	Definition: COPD Knowledge Questionnaire(Excerpt); Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the questions;	1 year
Depression Symptoms	Definition: Emotional disorders, including sadness, loss, and anger; Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: PHQ-9; Introduction to PHQ-9: Patient Health Questionnaire- 9 items (PHQ-9), ranging from 0 to 27, the higher the score, the severer the depression symptoms for the respondents will be.	1 year
Anxiety Symptoms	Definition: Unpleasant state of inner turmoil; Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: GAD-7; Introduction to GAD-7: General Anxiety Disorder - 7 (GAD-7), ranging from 0 to 21, the higher the score, the severer the anxiety symptoms for the respondents will be.	1 year
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, WEM -WBS score	Definition: Reflects overall mental health problems; Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: WEMWBS; Introduction to WEMWBS: Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, ranging from 14 to 70, the lower the score, the worse one's general mental health will be.	1 year
Self-rated health status	Definition: General self-assessed health status; Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: EQ-5D scale; Introduction to EQ-5D-5L scale: The 5-level EQ-5D version (EQ-5D-5L) was introduced by the EuroQol Group in 2009 to improve the instrument's sensitivity and to reduce ceiling effects, as compared to the EQ-5D-3L. The scale could be transferred to health utility value, ranging from 0 to 1 continuously. 0 represents death and 1 represents perfect health.	1 year
Productivity Loss	Definition: Productivity loss due to illness or health problems from Working Productivity and Activity Impairment-General Health Chinese version 2.0; Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question; WPAI outcomes are expressed as impairment percentages, with higher numbers indicating greater impairment and less productivity, i.e., worse outcomes, as follows: Questions: = currently employed; = hours missed due to health problems; = hours missed other reasons; = hours actually worked; = degree health affected productivity while working; = degree health affected regular activities Scores: Multiply scores by 100 to express in percentages. Percent work time missed due to health: Q2/(Q2+Q4) Percent impairment while working due to health: Q5/10 Percent overall work impairment due to health: Q2/(Q2+Q4)+[(1-(Q2/(Q2+Q4)))x(Q5/10)] Percent activity impairment due to health: Q6/10	1 year
Asthma Knowledge	Definition: The first 7 questions within Chinese version Patient Asthma Knowledge Questionnaire, the higher the score, the more correct statements the respondents will have chosen. Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
mMRC score	Definition: score for mMRC questionnaire Variable type: Categorical Measurement: Respondent's answers to the question Introduction to mMRC: Modified Medical Research Council, categorical value, level 0 represents a good respiratory condition, while the maximum level 4 represents a very bad respiratory condition.	1 year
Medical expenditure within a family over the past year	Definition: Healthcare-related expenditures; Variable type: Continuous; Measurement: Survey data/insurance/outpatient/inpatient data;	1 year
Number of Outpatient Visits	Definition: Outpatient visits and type of hospital; Variable type: Count; Measurement: Survey data/insurance/outpatient data;	1 year
Number of Inpatient Visits	Definition: Inpatient visits and type of hospital; Variable type: Count; Measurement: Survey data/insurance/outpatient data;	1 year
Physical exercise	Definition: Frequency of physical exercise; Variable type: Categorical; Measurement: Respondent's answer to the question;	1 year
Smoking Dependence	Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND) is a scale that measures the nicotine dependence of smokers, ranging from 0 to 10, the higher the value, the worse the nicotine dependence will be. Heaviness Index of Smoking (HIS) could also be calculated using part of the scale, ranging from 0 to 6, and higher score means worse nicotine dependence.	1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Peking Union Medical College
• Collaborators: China-Japan Friendship Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Simiao Chen, Ph.D., Peking Union Medical College

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Huang K, Tong X, Tang X, Lai Q, Liu Y, Zhang S, Zheng Z, Chen W, Cao Z, Tang L, Zhao J, He L, Jiao L, Wang Y, Zhao T, Luo Y, Lyu X, Chen Q, Vollmer S, Geldsetzer P, Jamison D, Barnighausen T, Chen S, Wang C, Yang T; POPMIX study investigators. Impact of the POPulation Medicine Multimorbidity Intervention in Xishui County (POPMIX) on suspected asthma patients: protocol for the POPMIX-Asthma cluster-randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2026 Apr 11;27(1):301. doi: 10.1186/s13063-026-09685-5.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 17, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): March 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 7, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 8, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 13, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 4, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 2, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Suspected Asthma; Multimorbidity Interventions and Management; Clustered RCT; Pay-for-population Mechanism
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Immune System Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Bronchial Diseases; Lung Diseases, Obstructive; Respiratory Hypersensitivity; Hypersensitivity, Immediate; Hypersensitivity; Asthma
• Other Study ID Numbers: CAMS&PUMC-IEC-2024-041

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No