title: Effect of asthma in childhood on psycho-social problems in the family.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The responsibility for treating children with asthma has gradually shifted from the medical health service to the family and parents, which may cause new psycho-social problems in the family. This study aimed at describing the psycho-social effects on families having a child with asthma, and at determining whether a relation exists between the medical severity of disease and psycho-social problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  The findings are based on a questionnaire with the following domains: economy, work, free time, health, environment, and family, as well as a health-related medical questionnaire. They are built on psycho-social problems and on medical records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of psycho-social problems was high regarding single questions in the evaluated psycho-social domains. A relation was found between high drug consumption and severe psycho-social problems. However, no positive correlation was detected among visits at the hospital's emergency department, absence from school due to asthma or disturbed sleep, and psycho-social problems. On the contrary, a negative correlation was found between absence from school due to asthma and psycho-social problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that for single questions in each psycho-social domain, the problem rate is high, but when taking into account the mean value of different psycho-social problems in each domain, the reported problem rate is fairly low. This method permits selection of the psycho-social domains with the most severe problems in each family. It can, therefore, be used to direct help from the medical service. We also found a relation between the medical severity of asthma and the extent of the psycho-social problems caused by the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Orebro University Hospital, Sweden. dan.gustafsson@orebroll.se
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gustafsson
authors.forename: Niclas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Olofsson
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: Berit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schollin
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004651:Employment; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D008603:Mental Health; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012919:Social Behavior