Quality of life in pediatric asthma patients and their parents: A meta-analysis on 20 years of research

Abstract

Introduction. This meta-analytic review was conducted to estimate the magnitude of quality of life (QoL) impairments in children/adolescents with asthma and their parents. Method. A systematic search in four electronic databases revealed 15 quantitative studies published between 1994-2013 that directly compared the QoL of 7- to 18-year-old asthma patients/parents to community/healthy controls. Pooled mean differences (MD) with 95% CI were estimated using the inverse-variance random-effects method. Results. Pediatric asthma patients (n = 1,797) presented lower overall QoL (MD = -7.48, CI = -10.67/ -4.29), physical functioning (MD = -9.36, CI = -11.85/ -6.86), psychological functioning (MD = -5.00, CI = -7.17/ -2.82), and social functioning (MD = -3.76, CI = -5.80/ -1.72), compared to controls (n = 13,266). For parents (666 cases and 7,328 controls), asthma was associated with lower physical functioning (MD = -10.15, CI = -12.21/ -8.08). Between-studies heterogeneity was explained by type of informant and selection of controls. Conclusion. The ascertainment of the magnitude of QoL impairments and the most affected QoL dimensions for pediatric asthma patients/parents may contribute to the outlining of realistic goals for multidisciplinary interventions in healthcare settings and evaluate its cost-effectiveness.