Parental views on children admitted to hospital with acute asthma.
OBJECTIVE
To gather information on the background to the hospital admission of children with an attack of acute asthma, on the parents' expectations and perceptions of the hospital's role in treatment and the hospital's response to these expectations.


METHODS
A structured questionnaire was administered to the parents of 127 children admitted to hospital with an acute attack of asthma of a mild or moderate severity. At 10-15 days after discharge, further information was obtained from 102 of the parents regarding their experiences of the hospital stay.


RESULTS
Half of the children were self (parental) referred to hospital. The modal time spent in hospital was one night. Overwhelmingly, the parents felt that the admission had been justified and that discharge time was appropriate. Parental expectations of information and education about the condition differed slightly from the staff as judged by the information given to them. Many parents learned something about asthma and the majority felt that the brief admission was not too disruptive. The reported perceptions and the actions of the parents are in keeping with the hypothesis that the emergency care of childhood asthmatics is moving from the community to the hospital, and that many see a role for the latter in the long-term management of the condition.
Dawson
K P
KP
Department of Paediatrics, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand.
Mogridge
N
N
D000208:Acute Disease; D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015285:Hospital-Patient Relations; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012380:Role; D013223:Statistics as Topic