Does having an asthmatic sibling affect the quality of life in children?

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Quality of Life Research
• Family Studies

Background:

• Chronic illnesses within a family can negatively impact the well-being of other family members.
• Asthma is a prevalent chronic respiratory condition affecting children.
• Understanding the ripple effects of a child's chronic illness on siblings is crucial for holistic family care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of having an asthmatic sibling on the quality of life (QoL) of healthy children.
• To compare the QoL of healthy children with an asthmatic sibling to that of healthy children with healthy siblings.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 228 healthy children aged 2-12 years.
• Study group: healthy children with an asthmatic sibling (n=114).
• Control group: healthy children with a healthy sibling (n=114).
• Quality of life assessed using the Turkish generic Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) short form.
• Sociodemographic and disease severity data were collected.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in total PedsQL™ scores between the study and control groups across all age brackets.
• Children with an asthmatic sibling reported significantly lower emotional QoL scores compared to controls (p≤0.002 for all age groups).
• Psychosocial sub-scores were significantly lower in younger children (2-7 years) with an asthmatic sibling, but not in the 8-12 year olds (p=0.01, p=0.01, p=0.08 respectively).

Conclusions:

• Healthy children with asthmatic siblings exhibit significantly diminished emotional quality of life.
• The findings underscore the emotional burden on siblings of children with chronic conditions.
• Further research is recommended to explore these effects in the context of other chronic childhood diseases.