Blowing the whistle: what do African American adolescents with asthma and their caregivers understand by "wheeze?".
OBJECTIVE
To investigate what African American adolescents with asthma and their caregivers understand by "wheeze".


METHODS
Caregivers (n = 35) and adolescents (n = 35) were each asked to describe what they understood by "wheeze". Respondents were also shown a video clip of an adolescent wheezing and asked: a) to describe the breathing of the adolescent in the video; and, b) whether the adolescent respondent's breathing had ever been similar to the video-presented symptoms.


RESULTS
Most caregivers described wheeze in terms of sound alone (61.8%) while the majority of adolescents described wheeze as something that is felt (55.8%). Few caregivers and adolescents (5.8% each) included "whistling" in their descriptions of "wheeze". Most caregivers and adolescents used the word "wheeze" when describing the video clip, but nearly one-quarter of the caregivers and one-third of the adolescents felt that the adolescent's breathing was never similar to the video.


CONCLUSIONS
Caregiver and adolescents descriptions of wheeze are different from each other and both may be different from clinical definitions of the term. Study findings have implications for the ways in which questions about "wheeze" are framed and interpreted.
Houle
Christy R
CR
Center for Managing Chronic Disease, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. choule@umich.edu
Caldwell
Cleopatra Howard
CH
Conrad
Frederick G
FG
Joiner
Terence A
TA
Parker
Edith A
EA
Clark
Noreen M
NM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D017028:Caregivers / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009626:Terminology as Topic