PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - W.D. Carroll
AU  - J. Wildhaber
AU  - P.L.P. Brand
TI  - Parent misperception of control in childhood/adolescent asthma: The room to breathe survey
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.00048911
DP  - 2011 Jan 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - erj00489-2011
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2011/06/20/09031936.00048911.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2011/06/20/09031936.00048911.full
AB  - To determine how often asthma control is achieved in children and adolescents, and how asthma affects the parents' and children's daily lives, interviews including the childhood asthma control test (C-ACT) were conducted with 1284 parents of asthmatic children (aged 4–15 years), as well as with the children themselves (aged 8–15 yrs, n=943), in Canada, Greece, Hungary, The Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Parents reported mild asthma attacks at least weekly in 11% of children, and serious attacks (requiring oral corticosteroids or hospitalization) at least annually in 35%. Although 73% of parents described their child's asthma as mild or intermittent, 40% of children/adolescents had C-ACT scores ≤19, indicating inadequate control and only 14.7% achieved complete GINA-defined control and just 9.2% achieved SIGN/BTS-defined control. Guideline-defined asthma control was significantly less common than well-controlled asthma using the C-ACT (p<0.001). Asthma restricted child's activities in 39% of families, and caused lifestyle changes in 70%. Complete asthma control is uncommon in children worldwide. Guideline-defined control measures appear to be more stringent than those defined by C-ACT or families. Overall parents underestimate their child's asthma severity and overestimate asthma control. This is a major potential barrier to successful asthma treatment in children.