OBJECTIVE: The asthma control test (ACT) is a validated tool for assessing control in asthmatic children aged 12 years and older. Using the ACT, we sought to assess asthma control and knowledge in London secondary school children. METHODS: Secondary schools in London, UK, participated in this study. Children with doctor-diagnosed asthma were invited to complete an online questionnaire that included the ACT and questions about asthma. Suboptimal asthma control was defined as an ACT score of ≤ 19 out of a maximum score of 25. Data are summarised as median and interquartile range (IQR), and were analysed by either Mann-Whitney test, or chi-square test. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 799 children completed the questionnaire; 689 (86.2%) were included for analysis. Suboptimal asthma control was reported by 49.6% of students. Over a third (42.4%) of students prescribed a short-acting β2-agonist inhaler felt uncomfortable using it at school, and 29.2% (n = 173) reported not using this inhaler when wheezy. 56.4% (n = 220) of those with regular inhaled corticosteroids did not take them as prescribed, and 41.7% did not know what this inhaler was for. Suboptimal control was associated with a greater proportion of students reporting that they were 'somewhat', 'hardly' or 'not at all' comfortable using inhalers at school (52.7% vs 29.1%, p < 0.01) and outside school (22.8% vs. 14.8%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Suboptimal asthma control and poor asthma knowledge are common in London schoolchildren.
OBJECTIVE: The asthma control test (ACT) is a validated tool for assessing control in asthmatic children aged 12 years and older. Using the ACT, we sought to assess asthma control and knowledge in London secondary school children. METHODS: Secondary schools in London, UK, participated in this study. Children with doctor-diagnosed asthma were invited to complete an online questionnaire that included the ACT and questions about asthma. Suboptimal asthma control was defined as an ACT score of ≤ 19 out of a maximum score of 25. Data are summarised as median and interquartile range (IQR), and were analysed by either Mann-Whitney test, or chi-square test. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 799 children completed the questionnaire; 689 (86.2%) were included for analysis. Suboptimal asthma control was reported by 49.6% of students. Over a third (42.4%) of students prescribed a short-acting β2-agonist inhaler felt uncomfortable using it at school, and 29.2% (n = 173) reported not using this inhaler when wheezy. 56.4% (n = 220) of those with regular inhaled corticosteroids did not take them as prescribed, and 41.7% did not know what this inhaler was for. Suboptimal control was associated with a greater proportion of students reporting that they were 'somewhat', 'hardly' or 'not at all' comfortable using inhalers at school (52.7% vs 29.1%, p < 0.01) and outside school (22.8% vs. 14.8%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Suboptimal asthma control and poor asthma knowledge are common in London schoolchildren.
Authors: Marzia Duse; Francesca Santamaria; Maria Carmen Verga; Marcello Bergamini; Giovanni Simeone; Lucia Leonardi; Giovanna Tezza; Annamaria Bianchi; Annalisa Capuano; Fabio Cardinale; Giovanni Cerimoniale; Massimo Landi; Monica Malventano; Mariangela Tosca; Attilio Varricchio; Anna Maria Zicari; Carlo Alfaro; Salvatore Barberi; Paolo Becherucci; Roberto Bernardini; Paolo Biasci; Carlo Caffarelli; Valeria Caldarelli; Carlo Capristo; Serenella Castronuovo; Elena Chiappini; Renato Cutrera; Giovanna De Castro; Luca De Franciscis; Fabio Decimo; Iride Dello Iacono; Lucia Diaferio; Maria Elisa Di Cicco; Caterina Di Mauro; Cristina Di Mauro; Dora Di Mauro; Francesco Di Mauro; Gabriella Di Mauro; Mattia Doria; Raffaele Falsaperla; Valentina Ferraro; Vassilios Fanos; Elena Galli; Daniele Giovanni Ghiglioni; Luciana Indinnimeo; Ahmad Kantar; Adima Lamborghini; Amelia Licari; Riccardo Lubrano; Stefano Luciani; Francesco Macrì; Gianluigi Marseglia; Alberto Giuseppe Martelli; Luigi Masini; Fabio Midulla; Domenico Minasi; Vito Leonardo Miniello; Michele Miraglia Del Giudice; Sergio Renzo Morandini; Germana Nardini; Agostino Nocerino; Elio Novembre; Giovanni Battista Pajno; Francesco Paravati; Giorgio Piacentini; Cristina Piersantelli; Gabriella Pozzobon; Giampaolo Ricci; Valter Spanevello; Renato Turra; Stefania Zanconato; Melissa Borrelli; Alberto Villani; Giovanni Corsello; Giuseppe Di Mauro; Diego Peroni Journal: Ital J Pediatr Date: 2021-04-21 Impact factor: 2.638