Effect of asthma in childhood on psycho-social problems in the family.

OBJECTIVE

The responsibility for treating children with asthma has gradually shifted from the medical health service to the family and parents, which may cause new psycho-social problems in the family. This study aimed at describing the psycho-social effects on families having a child with asthma, and at determining whether a relation exists between the medical severity of disease and psycho-social problems.

METHODS

The findings are based on a questionnaire with the following domains: economy, work, free time, health, environment, and family, as well as a health-related medical questionnaire. They are built on psycho-social problems and on medical records.

RESULTS

The frequency of psycho-social problems was high regarding single questions in the evaluated psycho-social domains. A relation was found between high drug consumption and severe psycho-social problems. However, no positive correlation was detected among visits at the hospital's emergency department, absence from school due to asthma or disturbed sleep, and psycho-social problems. On the contrary, a negative correlation was found between absence from school due to asthma and psycho-social problems.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that for single questions in each psycho-social domain, the problem rate is high, but when taking into account the mean value of different psycho-social problems in each domain, the reported problem rate is fairly low. This method permits selection of the psycho-social domains with the most severe problems in each family. It can, therefore, be used to direct help from the medical service. We also found a relation between the medical severity of asthma and the extent of the psycho-social problems caused by the disease.