Avaliação do conhecimento dos pais e controle da asma em crianças e adolescentes com diagnóstico da doença

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the level of knowledge in asthma and health literacy of parents of children and adolescents diagnosed with the disease. Methods: A cross-sectional study that evaluated 120 children and adolescents aged between one and 17 years and their legal guardians in the city of Vitória / ES. The following questionnaires were applied: Brazil's Economic Classification Criteria (CCEB), Clinical Questionnaire, Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), Knowledge in Pediatric Asthma (QCAP), Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Portuguese Adults (SAHLPA-18). To evaluate the inhalation techniques, a questionnaire on theoretical inhalotherapy and practical analysis was applied. For the purpose of analyzing the understanding of the medical prescription, the type of prescription (rescue or preventive) and the understanding about the medical prescription were evaluated with the parents. Results: Most asthmatic patients (75%) do not have disease control. In the last 12 months the results showed that the controlled asthma group had the highest percentages of continuous treatment (p <0.01), with lower scores for use of oral corticosteroids (p = 0.01) and bronchodilator use (p = 0.01). In the evaluation of the level of reading of the medical prescription and understanding about the prescription and the type of treatment, the results demonstrate that the greater the control of the disease, the better the percentage of understanding on the part of those responsible. Conclusion: The difficulty of control is a relevant problem in the management of children with asthma. Parents of children with controlled asthma demonstrate a higher level of knowledge about health and asthma, as well as having a better understanding about medical prescription, treatment techniques for the disease.