[Exercise-induced asthma as perceived by pediatric patients and their parents].
BACKGROUND
Exercise is a frequent trigger of symptoms in asthmatic children and it worsens their quality of life.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the perception about exercise among asthmatic pediatric patients and their parents.


METHODS
Asthmatic patients with symptoms related to exercise, were tested with an exercise challenge test following the Tal protocol. Before testing, a questionnaire about symptoms triggered by exercise was answered by children and their parents. The data was analyzed with a Kappa correlation test.


RESULTS
Seventy five patients, aged 6 to 15 years, were studied. Forty one percent exercised less than one hour per week. Although 64% reported to experience respiratory difficulty and 80% cough during exertion, 87% were willing to perform more exercise. Forty percent of all patients had a positive challenge test for exercise-induced asthma. Correlation between patient's and parent's answers about the effect of physical activity exercise was low, with a kappa of 0.53. There was no correlation between exercise test and the answers to the questionnaire.


CONCLUSIONS
Children with asthma frequently have exercise-associated symptoms and parental perception about this problem is very low.
Brockmann
Pablo
P
Departamento de Pediatría, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile. pbrockmann@gmail.com
Fodor
Daniel
D
Caussade
Solange
S
Campos
Eugenia
E
Bertrand
Pablo
P
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000293:Adolescent; D000420:Albuterol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001250:Asthma, Exercise-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D013177:Sports
D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D000420:Albuterol