Relationship Between Mothers’ Adherence to Therapeutic Regimen of Their Children with Bronchial Asthma and The Recurrence of Attacks

Abstract

Bronchial asthma is a severe public health issue that affects people all over the world; over 300 million people worldwide suffered from bronchial asthma. In Egypt, the prevalence of bronchial asthma among school-age children was 6.2% in Upper Egypt (Assiut) and 46.1% in Cairo. Adherence to therapeutic regimen play an important role in reducing overall healthcare expenditures and has a significant impact on children' life quality, lifespan, and health outcomes. Thus, the mothers have an important role to help their children to decrease the recurrence of bronchial asthma attacks through adhering to care or therapeutic regimen. Objective: Explore the relationship between mothers' adherence to the therapeutic regimen of their children with bronchial asthma and recurrence of attacks. Design: A correlational descriptive research design was used to accomplish the study. Setting:The study was carried out at the Pediatric Outpatient Clinics of Specialized Smouha Hospital. Subjects: convenience sampling of 200 mothers and their children, who fulfilled the criteria, comprised the subjects. Tools: Three tools were used for data collection. Tool I: Socio-Demographic Data and Medical History of Children sheet. Tool II: Interview schedule about Mothers' Adherence to Therapeutic Regimen of Their Children with Bronchial Asthma. Tool III: Childhood Asthma Control Test and The Occurrence of Recurrent Attacks. Results: The present study revealed that nearly two thirds of children were male (64.0%). There was a statistically significant difference between controlled recurrence of bronchial asthma and the adherence to therapeutic regimen (P=0.048*), where more than one half of good adhered mothers to therapeutic regimen their children had controlled recurrence attacks of bronchial asthma (61.1%). On the other hand, it was noticed that 19.6% of mothers were not adhered to therapeutic regimen their children had uncontrolled recurrence attacks of bronchial asthma, while 51.8% of partially adhered mother with therapeutic regimen their children had partially controlled recurrence attacks of bronchial asthma. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant difference between Mothers' adherence to the therapeutic regimens of bronchial asthma and the recurrence of attacks in children. Recommendations: Implementing a counseling program training and health education sessions for mothers of children with bronchial asthma to improve their awareness about adherence to the therapeutic regimen of bronchial asthma attacks and proper management approaches.