title: Accuracy of parental and child's reports of changes in symptoms of childhood asthma.
abstract: This cohort study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of parental and child's reports of changes in asthma symptoms. Fifty three asthmatic children and their parents were interviewed at enrollment and after 4 and 8 weeks. The outcomes were parental and child's reports of changes in asthma symptoms, changes in mean daily symptom scores and changes in pulmonary function. Among patients 6 to 10 years old, parental reports were more strongly than child's reports to correlate with changes in mean daily symptom scores (r: 0.54 vs 0.23). In patients aged 11 yr or older, parental and child's reports were equally correlated with changes in mean daily symptom scores (r: 0.63 vs 0.57). In both age groups, neither parental nor child's reports were significantly correlated with changes in pulmonary function. Conclusion Parental reports of changes in asthma symptoms are more reliable than child's reports in patients under 11 yr. Among patients aged 11 yr or older, child's reports are so valid as their parents reports for clinical judgment of asthma control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal and Child Health, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande-RS, Brazil. zhanglinjie63@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Linjie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Avila
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leyraud
authors.forename: Sinar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: Sinar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: T
authors.forename: Thiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bonfanti
authors.forename: Emerson
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferruzzi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents