title: Home nebulizers in childhood asthma. Parental perceptions and practices.
abstract: Seventy five percent of 91 parents of asthmatic children (aged 6 months to 15.4 years) with home nebulizers, responded to a questionnaire that sought to document parental experience with this form of therapy. The most common indications for acquiring a nebulizer were inability to use metered dose inhalers and poor response or intolerance to oral medications. When the children were classified into those who used the nebulizer daily (27/69) and those who used it less than daily (42/69), we found that the daily users were more likely to be in the severest category of asthma, by parental assessment, prior to the home nebulization program (p = 0.0035). Retrospective, uncontrolled comparison before and after the acquisition of a home nebulizer showed significant decreases both in hospital admissions (1.7 vs 0.7; p less than 0.001) and total in-patient days (4.1 vs 1.7; p less than 0.0001). Home nebulizers are well tolerated by parents and children alike and may be associated with decreased morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hotel Dieu Hospital, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Willan
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Wherrett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000420:Albuterol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004205:Cromolyn Sodium / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009241:Ipratropium / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D009330:Nebulizers and Vaporizers; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013806:Theophylline / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D013806:Theophylline; D009241:Ipratropium; D004205:Cromolyn Sodium; D000420:Albuterol