title: Paediatric asthma: overcoming barriers to an improved quality of life.
abstract: Paediatric asthma has a considerable impact on both society, in terms of healthcare resources, and patients and their families, in terms of impaired quality of life. The principal goals of asthma treatment are to achieve and maintain control of symptoms. Achieving these goals may involve long-term use of appropriate medication in the form of an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and a long-acting ss-agonist (LABA). However, many patients with paediatric asthma are not currently achieving symptom control. The main barriers to asthma control are underuse of effective therapies, inappropriate choice of drug delivery devices and a lack of patient or parent/guardian education regarding the disease and its treatment. By addressing and overcoming these barriers to asthma control, the quality of life of patients and their families may be significantly improved.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital North Staffordshire, Academic Department of Paediatrics, City General Site, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.
authors.forename: Sadie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Clayton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D017281:Cost of Illness; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care; D012917:Social Adjustment; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents