Asthma knowledge, subjective assessment of severity and symptom perception in parents of children with asthma

作者：Silva Claudia Mendes^*; Barros Luisa

来源：Journal of Asthma, 2013, 50(9): 1002-1009.

DOI：10.3109/02770903.2013.822082

• Asthma control
• Brief Symptom Inventory
• caregivers
• child%26apos
• s asthma
• disease knowledge
• perceived severity
• symptoms reports

Objectives: This study aimed to confirm the tendency for parents to underestimate the severity of symptoms and the poor consistency between parents%26apos; reports of symptoms and the physicians%26apos; evaluation of asthma control. Additionally, the relationship between parents%26apos; asthma knowledge and their report of symptoms and estimation of asthma severity was explored. Methods: Fifty children (M = 10.5 years) and their caregivers were recruited from two Portuguese hospitals. A measure of asthma symptoms report (Severity of Chronic Asthma, SCA) and a subjective evaluation of asthma severity were collected and compared with physicians%26apos; ratings of asthma control, as well as parents%26apos; knowledge about asthma (Asthma Knowledge Questionnaire, AKQ) and emotional disturbance (Brief Symptom Inventory, BSI). Results: Although parents%26apos; evaluation of perceived asthma severity was moderately correlated to symptoms reported, results confirm an inconsistency between parents%26apos; reports of symptoms, their subjective rating of asthma severity and the physician%26apos;s rating of clinical control, revealing a tendency for parents to underestimate disease severity and to underreport asthma symptoms. Asthma knowledge was not significantly correlated to SCA or to parents%26apos; subjective evaluation of asthma severity. Parents with poorer knowledge reported fewer symptoms. Conclusions: Portuguese parents revealed a tendency to overestimate their child%26apos;s level of asthma control and a low level of asthma knowledge. Parents%26apos; education, psychological disturbance and time since diagnosis were associated with asthma knowledge. Parents%26apos; knowledge was not related to the child%26apos;s asthma outcomes or to their subjective evaluation of asthma severity or symptoms reports. Parents%26apos; asthma knowledge deficits, underreporting of symptoms and underestimation of asthma severity, may affect parent-provider communication and impede asthma control.

• 出版日期2013-11