Izvorni znanstveni članak
Parental perceptions and beliefs about childhood asthma: a cross-sectional study
Rola Zaraket
; Department of Pediatrics, Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon
Mohamad A. Al-Tannir
; Scientific Research and Publication Centre, King Fahd Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Aref A Bin Abdulhak
; Internal Medicine Department King Fahd Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Ahmad Shatila
; Department of Pediatrics, Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon
Hani Lababidi
; Pulmonary and Critical Care Department, King Fahd Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Sažetak
Aim To assess parental perceptions and beliefs about asthma
in children.
Methods We invited 6000 children aged 3 to 15 years from
different schools in Lebanon to participate in the study
from September 2007 to May 2008. In the first phase, in
order to determine the prevalence of asthma in children,
parents of all participating children filled out a small questionnaire.
In the second phase, only parents of children
with asthma filled out a detailed questionnaire about their
perceptions of asthma.
Results Phase I included parents of 4051 children, 574
(14%) of whom had asthma and were recruited to phase
II. Out of these, 389 parents entered the final data analysis.
Around 54% of parents believed that asthma was hereditary
and 7% believed it was contagious. When asked about
triggering factors, 51% stated virus infection, 75% dust, and
17% food. Sixty percent of children with asthma lived with
someone who smoked. Sixty-seven percent of parents believed
that herbs had a role in asthma treatment and only
49% received asthma education. There was a significant
difference in education level (P = 0.01) between the parents
who denied the label of asthma (79%) and those who
accepted it (21%). Sixty-seven percent of parents preferred
oral over inhaler treatment, 48% believed inhalers were addictive,
56% worried about inhalers’ side effects, and 76%
worried about using inhaled corticosteroids. Significantly
more parents from rural (53%) than from urban areas (38%)
believed that inhalers were addictive (P = 0.004).
Conclusion Parents of children with asthma had considerable
misperceptions about the use of inhalers and the
safety of inhaled corticosteroids. To improve asthma care
in children, it is necessary to provide adequate education
to parents
Ključne riječi
asthma; parental; beliefs; childhood; perceptions; survey
Hrčak ID:
74218
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.10.2011.
Posjeta: 1.887 *