Non-compliance amongst adolescents with asthma: listening to what they tell us about self-management.

BACKGROUND: Non-compliance with prescribed anti-asthma medication is considered to be a major problem. The reasons why adolescents may fail to comply with their regimen are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: This study set out to understand better the reasons for non-compliance in adolescents with asthma. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of 49 adolescents, aged 14-20 years, diagnosed as asthmatic more than a year previously and attending a hospital asthma clinic in Greater Glasgow. The interviews focused on young people's feelings about their illness and on their illness-related behaviour, including self-management. RESULTS: Most of the young people interviewed admitted that they had not always complied with their self-care regimens. Reasons given for non-compliance with prescribed medication in the past or at present were: forgetfulness, belief that the medication is ineffective, denial that one is asthmatic, difficulty using inhalers, inconvenience, fear of side effects, embarrassment and laziness. CONCLUSION: Most of those interviewed believed that compliance with prescribed medication was extremely important, with many having formed this belief following a negative experience which they attributed to their non-compliance. Nevertheless, barriers exist which mean that optimum self-care is not always achieved. It is suggested that future health care initiatives in this area be designed to provide practical information which aids the surmounting of these barriers and helps children and adolescents to be sufficiently aware of their own vulnerability at an early stage of their career as asthmatics. Peer education initiatives may meet these objectives, and more thought should be given to their development and optimum form.

The experiential impact of head injury on adolescents: individual perspectives on long-term outcome.

Thirty-one young people, who were experiencing chronic sequelae of a head injury sustained at least 1 year previously, were interviewed in-depth about the impact head injury had had on their lives. Their functioning was also assessed using the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ-R). The main theme raised by subjects was that they had not received adequate explanation of the emotional problems associated with head injury and relevant support in coming to terms with their condition. Head injury had had a devastating effect on their lives, causing limitations in day-to-day activities, employment, education and relationships, and they scored significantly below norms on the OSIQ-R scale of Self-Confidence. However, these young people had a predominantly positive attitude towards life, which appeared to be related to their appreciation of how fortunate they had been to survive. They scored significantly above norms on the OSIQ-R scale of Social Functioning. Markers of poor functioning were identified and, in clinical practice, could be used as a method of highlighting those head-injured young people who potentially are most in need of support. The findings have implications for future research directions, service delivery and planning, in that particular weaknesses of current provision are demonstrated and recommendations made for improvements.