Background: Asthma is a common disease in Egypt that puts a serious burden on childrens health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and their primary caregiver.
Objectives: To assess HRQOL of asthmatic children and their caregivers and to identify the most important determinants that adversely affect (HRQOL) of them.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 112 pairs of asthmatic patients (7-17 years old) and their primary caregivers attending the outpatient pediatric and chest clinics at Benha University and chest Hospitals. Pediatric asthma QOL questionnaire (PAQLQ), pediatric asthma caregivers QOL questionnaire (PACQLQ), asthma control questionnaire, and questionnaire of main determinants of asthma were used.
Results: The overall PAQLQ score ranged between 1.27 and 5.73 (3.27 ± 1.05), and the overall PACQLQ score ranged between 1.18 and 5.85 (3.21 ± 1.17). There was a significant positive correlation between caregiver individual and overall QOL scores and their children (individual and overall QOL scores). Maternal educational level, social score, and asthma control score were the determinants of overall PAQLQ score for asthmatic children (95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.79 ± −0.04, 0.03 ± 0.08, −0.33 ± −0.004, respectively, R2 = 0.46). Social score, asthma control score of the children, and parental smoking were the predictors of overall caregiver QOL score (95% CI = 0.003 ± 0.06, −0.40 ± 0.01, −1.09 ± 0.04, respectively, R2 = 0.32).
Conclusion: Childhood asthma significantly adversely affects the QOL of the affected children and their caregivers.
Key words: Childhood Asthma; Caregivers; Quality of Life
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