Kids with asthma may have different perspective than caregivers: study

San Antonio – Children with asthma should be given the chance to speak directly to doctors because they may have a different view than their caregiver, according to a study from the University of Texas Health Science Center and the Center for Airway Inflammation Research.

Using quality-of-life questionnaires, researchers compared the perceptions of 79 children 5-17 years old and their caregivers’ perceptions, and found that children rated themselves as being less impaired by their asthma than their caregivers did, according to the study abstract.

Rather than dominate the conversation during a doctor visit, caregivers should include children in the communication process about their asthma symptoms and treatment, researchers said.

The study was published in the July issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.