Health-related quality of life in childhood bronchial asthma

Background: Asthma is a public health problem that adversely affects different aspects of quality of life [QoL]. Childhood asthma is common in Egypt and associated with repeated school absenteeism and hospital admission

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Objective: To evaluate health-related quality of life [QoL] in children with bronchial asthma in an attempt to identify the most important determinants adversely affecting the QoL

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Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 140 children with physician- diagnosed bronchial asthma were clinically evaluated to determine level of asthma control and were administered pediatric asthma quality of life questionnaire [PAQLQ], and questionnaire for the main determinants affecting QoL including sociodemographic, disease-related and patient-related factors

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Results: They were 77 males and 63 females whose ages ranged between 7 and 17 years with a mean of 10.2 years. The overall PAQLQ score ranged between 2.22 and 6.61 with a mean +/- SD of 4.08 +/- 1. Uncontrolled asthma was associated with the lowest QoL scores [p Conclusion: Childhood asthma significantly adversely affects the QoL of the affected children. Control of the main determinants of QoL scores might improve the QoL of these patients