The impact of asthma risk factors on home management of childhood asthma

Abstract

There have been few studies of childhood asthma among families who live in nonmetropolitan settings. This work is part of the baseline assessment conducted before implementing a health education program to study the impact of asthma risk factors (gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, asthma severity) on home asthma management. Data analysis yielded no significant differences in home asthma management performed by parents or children with asthma based on the child's gender, ethnicity, asthma severity, or family socioeconomic status. Factors that define the child's experienced asthma pattern, such as activity limitations, number of allergens, and school absenteeism, were associated with the parent's work of asthma management. Trends in the data for the different ethnic and gender subgroups that have implications for clinical practice were identified. Future directions for research to address questions that emerged in this analysis are discussed. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.