Calidad de vida en el niño asmático y su cuidador

Abstract

Introduction: To measure quality of life in asthma is important for its treatment. Objective: The purpose of this study was to know the quality of life of the asthmatic child and his her caregiver. Method: Two questionnaires of quality of life in asthma of Juniper were applied. The pediatric asthma quality of life questionnaire (PAQLQ) was responded by 267 persistent asthmatic children, 7 to 15 years old from our Unit of Respiratory Diseases of a public children hospital. The pediatric asthma caregiver quality of life questionnaire (PACQLQ) was applied to their respective caregivers. An average of less than 5 points was considered as a significant alteration in quality of life. The impact of the severity and duration of the asthma in the quality of life of the asthmatic children and their caregivers was analyzed. For the statistical analysis the test of Chi square was used and a p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A global average of quality of global life less than 5 was found in 39.7% of the asthmatic group and in 68.3% of the caregivers (p < 0.001). In the subgroups of activity limitation and of emotional functioning we found a bigger proportion less than 5 points in caregivers than in asthmatic children. The severity of asthma affected the global quality of life (p = 0.035) and the subgroup of activity limitation (p = 0.0037) of the caregivers. The asthma duration affected the global quality of life (p = 0.0057), the subgroup of activity limitation (p = 0.00003) and the subgroup emotional functioning (p = 0.018) of the caregivers. Conclusions: Our study highlights a significant percentage of patients with some alteration of quality of life, with a bigger impact on their caregivers. The severity and duration of asthma doesn 't affect the children significantly, but it does affect their caregivers