The Effect of Risk Factors on Quality of Life in Childhood Asthma

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to assess the Quality of Turkish children with asthma and its associated risk factors by using the PAQLQ (Pediatric Asthma Quality Of Life Questionnaire).

Methods: One hundred fifty children with asthma aged between 7-17 who were attending the out-patient clinic of the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology section were selected for the study between March 2009-March 2011. Asthma severity was made according to the Global Initiative for Asthma-GINA. Quality of Life (QoL) was measured by the Turkish version of the Pediatric Asthma Quality Of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ). A total QoL score was calculated by the mean of all items. Patients' PAQLQ sores of different levels of disease were analyzed by ANOVA.

Results: One hundred fifty (93 boys) children were included in our study. The mean time since asthma diagnosis was 6.5 years (+/- 2.8). There were statistically significant PAQLQ score differences among children with mild, moderate, and severe asthma (p<0.001). There was a negative inverse relation between passive exposure of smoking and the number of family member and PAQLQ sores. PAQLQ sores of children who also had allergic rhinitis symptoms were significantly lower than those who had no allergic rhinitis symptoms

Conclusion: This study showed that children with asthma have significantly low QoL scores. Passive cigarette exposure and additional allergic rhinitis affect PAQLQ scores negatively.