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Impact of the POPulation Medicine Multimorbidity Intervention in Xishui County (POPMIX) on suspected asthma patients: protocol for the POPMIX-Asthma cluster-randomized controlled trial

Huang K, Tong X, Tang X, Lai Q, Liu Y, Zhang S, Zheng Z, Chen W et al.

Trials, 2026

12 participants

Abstract

Background: Asthma is a common chronic disease responsible for a considerable disease burden in China and around the world. Despite its burden, there is substantial unmet need for asthma care, including screening, diagnosis, treatment, and management. Symptom-based screening for asthma could support identification of undiagnosed asthma patients, as well as reference to higher-level hospitals for formal diagnoses and treatment. This study focuses on identifying suspected asthma patients and encouraging them to seek formal diagnoses and treatment. This approach aligns with the novel concept of population medicine, which aims to maximize overall population health rather than focusing on individual patients within the health system.

Methods: We are conducting a two-arm population-based stratified clustered randomized controlled trial (cRCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a population medicine multimorbidity intervention package. The intervention integrates community screening, chronic disease management, patient education, digital follow-up, and team-based care. The trial is being implemented in Xishui County, Guizhou Province, a mountainous low-resource county in Southwestern China, covering 26 townships and more than 300,000 permanent residents. We considered each of the 26 townships in Xishui County as a cluster and stratified them into large and small townships based on population size. Townships with an above-average population were designated as "large," and those with a…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 12 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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