Childhood and adolescent asthma: A study of perceptions, management and health-related quality of life measures

Abstract

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease and imposes a significant burden on patient and the caregivera??s quality of life despite availability of efficacious pharmacological agents. A series of studies were conducted to elucidate how patient management could be enhanced to improve outcomes and HRQoL. To investigate where patient education would be needed, what the public and patients understand about asthma and how asthma is managed at home.; as well as whether asthma specific HRQoL instruments (CAQs) could be culturally adapted and translated for application in Singapore. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were applied to understand and assess these areas. We found that awareness among patient and the public is low. The perceptions are influenced by cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Public and patient education need to target these areas of common misconceptions. Preliminary data show that paediatric asthma HRQoL instruments can be adapted for use in Singapore but must be adopted with caution due to cultural differences.