[Inhaled medication in pediatrics]

[Knowledge and experience of 2- to 15-year-old children's parents consulting in pediatric emergency departments for asthma]

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed at assessing parents' knowledge and perception in relation to their child's condition when arriving at the emergency ward following an asthma attack. The overall objective was to determine how parent education could be improved.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was conducted over 9 months as a multicenter descriptive and qualitative study based on a self-administered questionnaire for parents of asthmatic children, aged 2-15 years.

RESULTS

The questionnaire was delivered to 88 children out of 1472 (6%). Approximately 69% of the children included in the study presented with partially controlled or uncontrolled asthma. Fifty percent of the patients were insufficiently monitored and without therapy. Half of the parents said they had never received any information concerning their child's condition. The majority (86%) did not know the basic cause of the disease, 30% percent were unable to detect the features of clinical exacerbation, and 17% were not using an adequate emergency protocol. The illness experience was relatively easy for two-thirds of the children and the parents' perceptions were in line in 50% of the cases.

DISCUSSION

Knowledge of parents and their children suffering from asthma is insufficient for optimal control and disease management. Instructions on detecting the signs of asthma severity as well as the establishment of an individualized emergency protocol and medical follow-up should be of prime concern and could reduce emergency department use.

CONCLUSION

Doctors have a key role to play in educating and explaining disease characteristics to patients and their families. Therapeutic education also needs to be intensified.