S. Rietveld et al., THE INFLUENCE OF RESPIRATORY SOUNDS ON BREATHLESSNESS IN CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA - A SYMPTOM-PERCEPTION APPROACH, Health psychology, 16(6), 1997, pp. 547-553
The discordance between the objective and subjective symptoms of asthm
a has major effects on proper medication and management. In 2 studies
the influence of respiratory sounds in the process of symptom percepti
on underlying breathlessness was investigated in children aged 7-17 ye
ars. In Experiment 1, asthmatic wheezing sounds were recorded in 16 ch
ildren during histamine-induced airway obstruction. Breathlessness cor
related significantly with rank order of amount of wheezing, but not w
ith lung function. In Experiment 2, after standardized physical exerci
se, 45 asthmatic and 45 nonasthmatic children were randomly assigned t
o (a) false feedback of wheezing, (b) quiet respiratory sounds, or (c)
no sound. Asthmatic children reported significantly more breathlessne
ss in the Ist versus the 3rd condition. Tn conclusion many asthmatic c
hildren were easily influenced by wheezing in their estimation of asth
ma severity, reflected in breathlessness.