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Medication use in children with asthma: not a child size problem.
Charu Grover1, Carol Armour, Peter Paul Van Asperen
1Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Summary
Suboptimal use of pediatric asthma medications is common. Key issues include parental knowledge gaps, cost barriers, and healthcare professional adherence to guidelines, necessitating targeted educational interventions for children and families.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Health Services Research
- Pharmacoeconomics
Background:
- Pediatric asthma represents a significant global health burden with substantial direct and indirect costs.
- Current pediatric asthma medication use is suboptimal despite available effective treatments.
- Understanding barriers to medication use is crucial for improving asthma management in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To scope the empirical literature on problems associated with pediatric asthma medication use.
- To identify key issues hindering effective asthma management in children.
- To inform the development of interventions for improving medication adherence.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search was conducted using major electronic databases (Medline, IPA, PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL).
- Keywords included "asthma," "children," and "medicines," with expanded terms to capture emergent themes.
- Content analysis identified themes related to parents, children, healthcare professionals, and systems.
Main Results:
- Identified issues span parental knowledge deficits, fears, and behaviors, alongside medication/device costs.
- Healthcare professional factors include guideline nonadherence and off-label prescribing.
- Child-related factors involve self-image and responsibility, while systemic issues include educational resource access.
Conclusions:
- Key identified issues must inform the development of targeted educational tools.
- Interventions should address children, parents/carers, healthcare professionals, and organizational systems.
- Improving pediatric asthma medication use requires a multi-faceted approach.
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