Pediatric Asthma Caregiver’s Quality of Life Questionnaire is a useful tool for monitoring asthma in children

Abstract

PurposeThere is little agreement among researchers whether a caregiver’s QOL can be used to detect changes in asthma severity in children. We assessed correlation between QOL in parents and QOL in children with asthma as well as clinical parameters of asthma. We determined whether changes in caregiver’s QOL scores reflect changes in child’s QOL and their asthma control.MethodsThis was a 9-week period cohort study. One hundred and ten primary caregivers with 110 children were seen in the clinic at enrollment, at week #1, #5 and #9. At each visit, the parents completed the Pediatric Asthma Caregiver’s Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ).ResultsOne hundred and one children and 101 caregivers completed the study. We found a significant correlation between asthma diary score in children and QOL in parents (from r = −0.46 to r = −0.53). We also found significant positive correlation between PAQLQ and PACQLQ and significant association between changes in asthma control and PACQLQ score for both domains. We observed significant change in PACQLQ of caregivers whose children obtained asthma control.ConclusionsPACQLQ is a useful tool for monitoring asthma in children. The implementation of the PACQLQ would be helpful in involving parents in therapy of their children with asthma.

Validación inicial de una escala para medir el nivel de sobrecarga de padres/cuidadores de niños asmáticos

“…AlAkour, et al, (35), y Dalheim-Englund, et al, (36) reportaron niveles más bajos de calidad de vida en padres de niños con asma grave, con respecto a padres de niños con asma leve. De igual forma, Stelmach, et al, reportaron una asociación significativa entre la calidad de vida de los padres de niños asmáticos medida con el Pediatric Asthma Caregiver's Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ), con el grado de control de asma de sus hijos, encontrando un cambio significativo en la puntuación de dicho cuestionario en los padres de los niños que lograron un adecuado control de su asma (37). significancia estadística de la edad del cuidador como variable asociada de forma independiente con la presencia de sobrecarga intensa en el análisis multivariado.…”

Parents with Asthmatic Children, Quality of Life

“…This inconsistency in results may be due to the different methods used to measure both asthma severity (e.g., parent's perception, clinician's assessment, diary ratings of symptoms, and examination of pulmonary function) and parents' QoL, as well as to the heterogeneity of the samples in terms of participants' variability across the spectrum of asthma severity. With regard to asthma's specific QoL impairments, the majority of studies using the PACQLQ measure have found a link between lower parental QoL and asthma severity according to asthma symptoms diaries (e.g., Stelmach et al, 2011), parents' reports of symptoms (e.g., Everhart et al, 2008;Walker et al, 2008) and symptom changes (e.g., Juniper et al, 1996). When clinical parameters such as pulmonary function are considered, the results are less clear, with some studies reporting weak correlations and others reporting no association with parents' QoL.…”

“…Furthermore, studies report that parents show more impaired QoL when their children's asthma is uncontrolled, (e.g., Dean et al 2009;Stelmach et al, 2011). One mechanism through which uncontrolled asthma may affect parents' QoL is via its negative influence on the parental work domain, with research showing that parents with children with uncontrolled asthma missed more days at work than parents with children with controlled asthma (Dean et al, 2009).…”

“…Finally, although not yet conclusive, there is growing evidence that parents' QoL and children's QoL are positively related (e.g., Crespo et al, 2011;Stelmach et al, 2011). It is possible that the transactional nature of the parent-child relationship, in that both family members influence each other over time, is enhanced in dyads in which the child has a chronic health condition.…”

Primary care management of childhood asthma: addressing caregiver quality of life using asthma action plans with preschool-aged children

“…In terms of directly addressing QOL in caregivers of children with asthma, in the studies by Stelmach et al (2012), and Osman, Baxter-Jones, and Helms (2001), the authors recognize the importance of discussing and assessing caregiver QOL in paediatric management. In both studies, the authors recommend using the PACQLQ in asthma visits as a tool to better acknowledge caregivers in the care of children with asthma.…”