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Nocturnal asthma symptoms and poor sleep quality among urban school children with asthma

Maria Fagnano1, Alison L Bayer, Carrie A Isensee

  • 1Department of Pediatrics and the Strong Children's Research Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. maria_fagnano@urmc.rochester.edu

Academic Pediatrics
|August 6, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Nocturnal asthma symptoms are common in urban children and linked to poor sleep and reduced parent quality of life. Addressing these nighttime symptoms is crucial for improving children's asthma management.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Nocturnal asthma symptoms significantly impact children's health and well-being.
  • Understanding the burden of sleep difficulties associated with these symptoms is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe nocturnal asthma symptoms in urban children.
  • To assess the impact of varying nocturnal symptom severity on sleep quality and parent quality of life.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of baseline data from 287 urban children (4-10 years) with persistent asthma.
  • Caregiver-reported nocturnal asthma symptoms, parent quality of life, and child sleep quality using validated questionnaires.
  • Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were employed.

Main Results:

  • 41% of children experienced intermittent, 23% mild persistent, and 36% moderate to severe nocturnal asthma symptoms.
  • Children exhibited pervasive sleep disturbances (average score 51 vs. cutoff 41).
  • Increased nocturnal symptoms correlated with worse sleep quality (including night wakings, parasomnias, sleep-disordered breathing) and reduced parent quality of life.

Conclusions:

  • Nocturnal asthma symptoms are prevalent in urban pediatric populations.
  • These symptoms are significantly associated with poor sleep quality and diminished parent quality of life.
  • Findings highlight the substantial disease burden of pediatric asthma and inform management strategies.
Abstract

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