Improved quality-of-life of caregivers of children with asthma through guideline-based management.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The quality of life (QOL) of caregivers of children with asthma may be related to children's responses to asthma management.

AIM:

To evaluate change in QOL over time of caregivers of children with asthma through guideline-based management.

DESIGN:

This was a 3-year prospective cohort study of children with asthma referred to our pediatric asthma center. Families completed Pediatric Asthma Caregiver's Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ), the Asthma Control Test™ (ACT), and reported the number of days/month of albuterol use and wheezing at each clinic visit.

RESULTS:

We enrolled 143 children, ages 7-17 years (mean = 10.6 ± 2.9), 56.6% male, 70.6% Caucasian. Patients were managed by the same MD (n = 65,45.5%) or APN (n = 78,54.5%) over time. The mean total PACQLQ significantly increased over the 3-year period (F = 67.418, p < .001). Total scores at the first visit were 4.8 ± 1.6, which improved to 6.1 ± 1 at the 3-month follow-up visit. This improvement was sustained at the 1, 2, and 3-year clinic visits. PACQLQ emotional function (F = 60.798, p < .001) and activity limitation (F = 41.517, p < .001) domains significantly improved as well. PACQLQ scores were significantly associated with improved ACT scores (r = .37 to .47, p < .05), fewer days/month of albuterol use (r = -.25 to -.36., p < .05), and wheezing (r = -.28 to -.33, p < .05). There were no significant differences in PACQLQ, or asthma clinical outcome measures between MD and APN providers.

CONCLUSION:

Use of National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) guidelines significantly improved QOL of caregivers of children with asthma and in asthma-related symptoms. Improvements over time were independent of type of providers.

• Authors: Shahid I Sheikh, Judy Pitts, Nancy A Ryan-Wenger, Kavitha Kotha, Karen S McCoy, David R Stukus
• Journal: The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma (J Asthma) Vol. 54 Issue 7 Pg. 768-776 (Sep 2017) ISSN: 1532-4303 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 27831828 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Chemical References

• Bronchodilator Agents

Topics

• Adolescent
• Asthma (physiopathology, therapy)
• Bronchodilator Agents (therapeutic use)
• Caregivers (psychology)
• Child
• Emotions
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Nurse Practitioners (statistics & numerical data)
• Patient Education as Topic (organization & administration)
• Prospective Studies
• Pulmonologists (statistics & numerical data)
• Quality of Life (psychology)
• Severity of Illness Index
• Socioeconomic Factors