Quality of Life Assessment in Children and Their Caregivers Suffering From Allergic Rhinitis and/or Asthma

Abstract

Introduction: Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis (AR) are among the most prevalent diseases worldwide and they frequently persist throughout life. These have significant effect on physical, financial and mental wellbeing of patients and caregivers. There have been few attempts previously, assessing quality of life in affected families suffering from these diseases. However, data from developing countries are scarce. Quality of life (QOL) assessment in children and caregivers of patients suffering can help in symptomatic management and provide inputs for better utilization of resources to achieve optimal treatment. Methods: Patient and caregiver QOLs were ascertained using mPAQLQ and PACQLQ respectively in the study and correlated with disease severity and chronicity using parametric and non-parametric statistical tools. Results: There were 246 pairs of children diagnosed with Asthma and/or AR and their caregivers attending the Pediatric Allergy and Asthma clinic. Symptom score, emotional domain and activity limitation in children did not validate a statistically significant difference in QOL in various grades of AR/Asthma (p=0.632)(p=0.772), (p=0.496) (p=0.918) and (p=0.384), (p=0.561) respectively. Additionally there was no significant correlation between the severity of asthma and caregiver emotional disturbance (p=0.594) or caregiver activity limitation (p=0.446). Conclusions: Quality of life in children and caregivers where children are suffering from either AR or Asthma, or both has not shown any significant difference as per the disease severity or chronicity in various domains. There was no significant difference in quality of life noted as per change in age group, gender of patients or education status of caregivers.