EVALUATION OF QUALITY OF LIFE OF PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS OF ASTHMATIC CHILDREN

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate and compare the levels of quality of life of parents/caregivers of children with and without diagnosis of asthma. Methods: Parents of children with asthma (asthma group) undergoing outpatient care and parents of children without asthma or asthma in remission (control group) were selected from public schools. They answered a questionnaire about quality of life (The World Health Organization Quality of Life- WHOQOL-BREF), previously validated for the study population. Domains (physical, psychological, social relations, environment and total score) were compared between groups, as well as the levels of correlation of self-perceived quality of life and satisfaction with health. Results: 101 parents/caregivers were included in the sample, that is, 50 (49.5%) parents of asthmatic children and 51 (50.5%) in the control group. Most parents included in the sample were females (n=89; 88.1%), with mean age of 33.5±10.4 years. When assessing quality of life, the overall score of domains was considered satisfactory, both in general evaluation (68.6±13.4) and in each group (asthma: 62.8±10.7; control: 74.3±13.4; p-value<0.001). Comparison of asthma and control groups showed significant differences in total score and in scores of all domains (p<0.001). Conclusions: Parents/caregiversof children with asthma have a lower quality of life compared to parents/caregivers of healthy children.

摘要
研究目的：评估并比较哮喘患儿与非哮喘患儿父母/照料者的生活质量水平。
研究方法：从公立学校招募接受门诊诊疗的哮喘患儿父母（哮喘组），以及无哮喘或哮喘已缓解儿童的父母（对照组），令其填写经本研究人群验证过的世界卫生组织生活质量简表（WHOQOL-BREF）。比较两组的各维度评分（生理、心理、社会关系、环境领域及总评分），同时分析自我感知生活质量与健康满意度的相关性水平。
研究结果：本研究共纳入101名父母/照料者作为研究样本，其中哮喘组50名（占比49.5%），对照组51名（占比50.5%）。纳入样本的父母以女性居多（n=89，占比88.1%），平均年龄为33.5±10.4岁。在评估生活质量时，两组的各领域总体评分均处于满意水平：总体评估得分为68.6±13.4，其中哮喘组得分为62.8±10.7，对照组为74.3±13.4，组间差异具有显著统计学意义（p<0.001）。哮喘组与对照组的总评分及所有领域评分均存在显著差异（p<0.001）。
研究结论：哮喘儿童的父母/照料者的生活质量水平低于健康儿童的父母/照料者。