Association between parental perception of children's vulnerability to illness and management of children's asthma

This study examined the relationship between asthma management strategies u sed by parents and parental perception of children's vulnerability to illne ss. Home interviews were conducted with 101 parents of children previously hospitalized with asthma. The child vulnerability scale (CVS) was employed to assess parents' perception of their children's vulnerability to illness. The asthma severity index (ASI) was used to measure the frequency and inte nsity of asthma symptoms experienced by children in the preceding 12 months . Five markers of parental asthma management were assessed: (i) school abse nces; (ii) visits to the general practitioner (GP); (iii) visits to the eme rgency room (ER); (iv) hospitalizations; and (v) whether children are using a regular preventer. After controlling for the frequency and intensity of children's asthma symp toms, parents who perceived that their children were more vulnerable to med ical illness were significantly more likely to keep their children home fro m school (P = 0.01), were more likely to take their children to the GP for acute asthma care (P = 0.02), and were more likely to be giving their child ren regular preventer medication (P = 0.02). In contrast. the use of tertia ry pediatric care services was not significantly associated with parental p erceptions of their children's vulnerability. The results suggest that parental attitudes and beliefs about the vulnerabi lity of their children to illness were associated with greater use of GP se rvices by parents and more frequent school absences for children. The use o f hospital services by parents appeared to be more strongly associated with the actual level of children's asthma symptoms than their vulnerability to illness. Pediatr Pulmonol, 2000; 29:88-93, (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss. Inc.