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. 2025 Aug 2;26(1):239.
doi: 10.1186/s12875-025-02936-5.

Exploring the perception and needs of pharmaceutical care among family caregivers of pediatric asthma patients in Guangdong Province, China: a cross-sectional survey study

Guohua Lin  1 , Dehui Chen  2 , Hao Hu  1   3 , Carolina Oi Lam Ung  4   5
Affiliations

Exploring the perception and needs of pharmaceutical care among family caregivers of pediatric asthma patients in Guangdong Province, China: a cross-sectional survey study

Guohua Lin et al. BMC Prim Care. .

Abstract

Background: Asthma brings a huge burden to children and their families. The aim of this study is to investigate the level of understanding of asthma among family caregivers, the burden they facing in caring for children with asthma, and their needs of pharmaceutical care.

Methods: A questionnaire informed by recent literature was distributed to family caregivers of children (< 18 years old) diagnosed with asthma from Guangdong Province, China. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with the caregivers' need of pharmaceutical care.

Results: A total of 610 valid questionnaires were collected. Most of the participants were women (60.0%) or aged between 35 and 44 years (48.0%). Only 38.9% of participants believed that they had good asthma related knowledge. There were 59.2% of participants bearing high burden due to pediatric asthma, and 54.9% of the participants indicated great need for pharmaceutical intervention. The results of multiple linear regression showed that pharmaceutical care needs were significantly associated with their gender, age, duration of taking care of pediatric asthma patients, and overall burden (all p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Caregivers of pediatric asthma patients self-reported inadequate levels of asthma knowledge, high level of burden, and unmet needs for pharmaceutical care, all of which presented great opportunities for pharmacists to contribute to pediatric asthma management at the community level.

Keywords: Asthma; Family caregiver; Pediatrics; Pharmaceutical care; Survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the Research Committee, University of Macau (Ethics Assessment ID: SSHRE23-APP071-ICMS). All methods in this study were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki on human research participants. The authors confirmed that informed consent was obtained from all participants of this study. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Perception of disease knowledge by family caregivers of pediatric patients with asthma
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Perception of disease management by family caregivers of pediatric patients with asthma
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Fig. 3
Perception of medication use by family caregivers of pediatric patients with asthma
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Fig. 4
Perception of non-pharmacological interventions by family caregivers of pediatric patients with asthma
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Fig. 5
Burden of family caregivers due to pediatric asthma
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Fig. 6
Needs of pharmaceutical care by family caregivers of pediatric patients with asthma
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