Table 4.

Issues in childhood asthma

Issues	Findings
Symptoms and resource use	• Children achieve a better level of symptom control than adults, and use more healthcare resources [32]
	• 72% of parents reported their children having experienced a serious asthma event [14]
Understanding of asthma and its treatment	• Only 41% of parents referred to their child's disease as 'asthma' [14]
	• 33% of parents of asthmatic children did not understand the terms 'controller' or 'preventer' therapy [12]
Impact on the life of children and family	• 21% of children had missed school within previous 3 months [12]
	• 36% of children had limitations on physical activities [12]
	• 6% of parents had missed work within previous 3 months [12]
	• 20% of parents believed their children are treated badly at school [14]
	• 50% of parents believed their lives were affected by their child's asthma [14]
Adherence	• Only 38% of parents stated that their children used controller medication regularly [12]
	• Juveniles presented particular adherence issues, showing reluctance to use inhalers in the presence of others [13]
	• In juveniles, specific decision-making tools for professionals as well as parents are helpful in identifying true severity and optimizing management [30]
	• Customized self-reported questionnaires can help identify potential noncompliance in juveniles before this became a major issue [31]
Concerns about treatments	• 70% of parents were concerned about their children using inhaled corticosteroids [11]
	• 33% of parents specified a desire for convenient nonsteroid treatments [14]
	• 66% of parents would switch their child's therapy if possible because of concerns about side effects of current drugs [14]