Quality of life in pediatric asthma patients and their parents: a meta-analysis on 20 years of research

Introduction: This meta-analytic review was conducted to estimate the magnitude of quality of life (QoL) impairments in children/adolescents with asthma and their parents. Method: A systematic search in four electronic databases revealed 15 quantitative studies published between 1994–2013 that directly compared the QoL of 7- to 18-year-old asthma patients/parents to community/healthy controls. Pooled mean differences (MD) with 95% CI were estimated using the inverse-variance random-effects method. Results: Pediatric asthma patients (n = 1797) presented lower overall QoL (MD = -7.48, CI: -10.67/-4.29), physical functioning (MD = -9.36, CI: -11.85/-6.86), psychological functioning (MD = -5.00, CI: -7.17/-2.82) and social functioning (MD = -3.76, CI: -5.80/-1.72), compared to controls (n = 13,266). For parents (666 cases and 7328 controls), asthma was associated with lower physical functioning (MD = -10.15, CI: -12.21/-8.08). Between-studies heterogeneity was explained by type of informant and selection of controls. Conclusion: The ascertainment of the magnitude of QoL impairments and the most affected QoL dimensions for pediatric asthma patients/parents may contribute to the outlining of realistic goals for multidisciplinary interventions in healthcare settings and evaluate its cost–effectiveness.