Parental Perceptions and Practices toward Childhood Asthma

Abstract

Introduction. Parental perceptions and practices are important for improving the asthma outcomes in children; indeed, evidence shows that parents of asthmatic children harbor considerable misperceptions of the disease.Objective.To investigate the perceptions and practices of parents toward asthma and its management in Saudi children.Methods. Using a self-administered questionnaire, a two-stage cross-sectional survey of parents of children aged between 3 and 15 years, was conducted from schools located in Riyadh province in central Saudi Arabia.Results. During the study interval, 2000 parents were asked to participate in the study; 1450 parents responded, of whom 600 (41.4%) reported that their children had asthma, dyspnea, or chest allergy (recurrent wheezing or coughing), while 478 (32.9%) of the parents reported that their children were diagnosed earlier with asthma by a physician. Therefore, the final statistical analyses were performed with 600 participants. Furthermore, 321 (53.5%) respondents believed that asthma is solely a hereditary disease. Interestingly, 361 (60.3%) were concerned about side effects of inhaled corticosteroids and 192 (32%) about the development of dependency on asthma medications. Almost 76% of parents had previously visited a pediatric emergency department during an asthma attack.Conclusions. Parents had misperceptions regarding asthma and exhibited ineffective practices in its management. Therefore, improving asthma care and compliance requires added parental education.