Patterns of response to childhood asthma

Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the concordance between parental and child ratings of asthma symptoms, and to determine the relationship between symptom ratings and morbidity data. The sample consisted of 162 asthmatic children from various treatment settings and 105 parents. The symptom pattern assessment employed a modified-for-children version of the Asthma Symptom Checklist (CASCL), which was completed independently by the parent and by the child. The CASCL data were factor analyzed to replicate the findings of the earlier panic/fear work. Factor analysis of both versions of the Asthma Symptom Checklist yielded three interpretable factors, which we labeled General Physical Symptoms, Panic/Fear, and Hyperventilation/Irritability. Correlations between parent and child across individual items ranged from 0.00 to 0.35. Correlations between the parents and the children across factor scores resulted in modest agreement. Using medication level, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations as indices of functional morbidity, many of the parents' and none of the children's factor scores were significantly related to functional morbidity.