Quality of life among caregivers of asthmatic children attending pulmonology clinics at Hamad General Hospital, Qatar.

INTRODUCTION

Chronic paediatric diseases, as bronchial asthma, affect the quality of life, which can be defined as the ability to preserve personal well-being despite sickness. These diseases have a huge impact on the quality of life of both the children, their parents and or caregivers.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional study using convenient sampling was conducted in the paediatric pulmonology clinics at Hamad General Hospital in Qatar aiming to evaluate the quality of life among caregivers of asthmatic children. The quality of life of caregivers was assessed using the standard Paediatric Asthma Caregiver Quality of Life questionnaire. Depression and asthma control were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory; second edition and the Paediatric Asthma Control and Communication Instrument, respectively.

RESULTS

Total number of the caregivers was 330. Majority of the asthmatic children had controlled or partially controlled asthma (47% and 44%, respectively). Most of the caregivers had either very good or good quality of life (63% and 31%, respectively). Mean quality of life score was 5.55 ± 1.14. Males, married and father caregivers had significantly higher mean quality of life. In addition, gender, getting bothered about child's asthma, asthma control score and depression score were significant predictors of quality of life among the caregivers.

CONCLUSION

Most of the caregivers had either very good or good quality of life. Being a female, degree of asthma control and depression were important determinants of the quality of life of the caregivers. Provision of needed support to caregivers and effective approach to controlling asthma are recommended to improve the quality of life of caregivers.