Risk Factors Affecting Quality of Life in a Group of Italian Children with Asthma

Abstract

The measure of Quality of Life (QoL) has become one of the most important criteria used to assess the impact of chronic illness, such as asthma, on the patient's daily life, in adults and children alike. The objective of our open observational study was to measure the QoL and analyze several factors that potentially affect QoL, such as symptoms and functional respiratory parameters, in a cohort of children with asthma. One hundred and twenty-seven children with asthma, 6 to 14 years of age, living in the city of Rome, were enrolled as outpatients. They were subjected to Skin Prick Tests (SPT), underwent spirometry and filled out the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ). One hundred and eleven children were diagnosed with intermittent asthma, 12 (10%) with mild asthma, and four with moderate persistent asthma. Ninety-six children had a positive SPT. The mean total score of QoL, obtained from the questionnaire, was 5.4 (±1.2 SD). Two QoL groups were created. Children with total QoL score <5.5 were included in the “Lower QoL” score group while children with total QoL score ≥ 5.5 were included in the “Higher QoL” score group. Children in the Higher group and their mothers had a higher mean age, suffered from fewer asthma exacerbations during the year preceding the study, and showed a higher mean value of forced expiratory volume (FEV1) compared to the children in the Lower category. Using Logistic regression we identified the main factors that may affect QoL as FEV1, symptoms in the previous year and mother's age. QoL is correlated with the frequency of asthma exacerbations and FEV1 values. Furthermore, our research shows that a significant impairment of QoL may also occur in patients with normal lung function, pointing out the importance of evaluating QoL in all children with asthma.

Assessment of health-related quality of life in asthmatic children and their caregivers

“…In this study, young age group of patients adversely affected physical domain score being worse in asthmatic children than asthmatic adolescents; this study revealed that there were higher scores of overall and individual QOL domains among asthmatic adolescents than asthmatic children, both total and single domain scores improve as the age of children increases. [24,25] Adolescents are able to handle the burden of the disease than younger children owing to cognitive and emotional developmental variations in grasping the content measured.…”

Risk factors associated with health-related quality of life in pediatric asthma

“…In addition, gender and income were the independent factors that affected the QOL levels. Indinnimeo et al 16 found that female patients were more likely to have poor QOL than male patients. The results were confirmed in our study.…”

“…Indinnimeo et al 16 found that female patients were more likely to have poor QOL than male patients. The results were confirmed in our study.…”

Impact of shared decision making on asthma quality of life and asthma control among children

“…Prior research has investigated factors associated with quality of life in patients with asthma and approaches to improve quality of life. Clinical studies have shown that lung function, number of asthma symptoms, level of asthma control and obesity influence asthma quality of life (6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Low coping and problem solving skills and depression have also been associated with worse quality of life in patients with asthma (11,12).…”