Assessment of the quality of life in children and adolescents with asthma

Abstract

Introduction: Asthma is a global health problem that negatively affects various aspects of the quality of a person's life. The aim of the study was to examine the quality of life in children and adolescents with asthma and the correlation between the degree of asthma control and the quality of life. Methods: The cross-sectional study included 100 children and adolescents with asthma over a six-month period in 2015. The study used: Standardized Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ(S)) for the assessment quality of life and the questionnaires for the assessment of asthma control for two age groups: Asthma Control Test (ACT) for adolescents and Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT). Results: 62 boys and 38 girls aged 7−17, whose average age was 11.2 (s = 2.7) years were included in the study. The overall PAQLQ(S) score ranged between 3.30 and 7.00 with an average mean value of 5.95. The findings have showed that most children with asthma estimated their overall PAQLQ(S) on the positive end of the scale. The children reported more impairment in the domain of 'Emotion' ( = 5.84) than in 'Activities' and 'Symptoms'. The percentage of adolescents in the category of poor control (12.5 %) was significantly lower than in the group of children (25.0 %). In both groups of children, the sub-scale 'Symptoms' was in highest correlation with the degree of asthma control (r = 0.915, p < 0.01). Discussion and conclusion: In this study the children and adolescents with asthma showed an overall good quality of life. Control of asthma symptoms in children and adolescents positively influenced their quality of life. IZVLEČEKUvod: Astma je globalni zdravstveni problem, ki negativno vpliva na različne vidike kakovosti življenja. Cilj raziskave je bil preučiti kakovost življenja pri otrocih in mladostnikih z astmo ter povezavo med stopnjo nadzora astme in kakovostjo življenja. Metode: Presečna študija je vključevala 100 otrok in mladostnikov z astmo v šestmesečnem obdobju leta 2015. V raziskavi so bili uporabljeni: standardiziran vprašalnik o kakovosti življenja otrok z astmo (PAQLQ(S)) za oceno kakovosti življenja in vprašalnika za oceno krmiljenja astme za dve starostni skupini: test za kontrolo astme za mladostnike (ACT) in test za kontrolo astme pri otrocih (C-ACT). Rezultati: Vključenih je bilo 62 fantov in 38 deklic, starih od 7 do 17 let, katerih povprečna starost je bila 11,2 (s = 2,7) leta. Skupni rezultati v oceni PAQLQ(S) so se gibali med 3,30 in 7,00 s povprečno vrednostjo 5,95. Ugotovitve kažejo, da je večina otrok z astmo umestila svojo splošno PAQLQ(S) proti pozitivnemu koncu lestvice. Otroci so poročali o večji oslabelosti na področju »Čustva« ( = 5,84) kot na področjih »Dejavnosti« in »Simptomi«. Odstotek mladostnikov, ki spadajo v kategorijo slabega nadzora (12,5 %), je bil znatno nižji kot v skupini otrok (25,0 %). V obeh skupinah otrok je bila lestvica »Simptomi« v največji povezavi s stopnjo nadzora astme (r = 0,915, p < 0,01). Diskusija in zaključek: V raziskavi so otroci in mladostniki z a...

Assessment of the health related quality of life in children with asthma in a tertiary hospital in North Central, Nigeria

“…It is also important to note that in addition to providing medical intervention, the treatment of children with asthma should include psychological support and counselling. This reasoning has been supported by other authors [ 10 , 25 ]. The age, gender, social class, asthma control and asthma severity were tested to determine the factors that were associated with the QoL.…”

“…The study by Jovic et al . [ 10 ] found the children to be more impaired in the emotion domain than in the activities and symptom domains.…”

“…The International Study of Asthma and Allergies (ISAAC) reported that asthma prevalence among children is increasing and Africa has contributed most to the burden of disease through its effects on quality of life [ 9 ]. Despite effective asthma medications available for symptom control, it has been reported globally that current treatments have not significantly reduced morbidity or mortality of the disease [ 10 ]. With this limitation therefore, there is an increasing need to use quality of life measures to evaluate the impact of asthma and its management on the daily lives and function of affected people and to identify the specific aspects of life with greater associated morbidity to enable effective management of the disease [ 11 - 13 ].…”