Impact of a short early therapeutic education program on the quality of life of asthmatic children and their families.

OBJECTIVES: Few studies have been made on the impact of therapeutic education (TE) on the quality of life (QOL) of asthmatic primary-school aged children. We attempted to assess the beneficial effects on the QOL of children and their parents of a short TE program initiated immediately after the first consultation with a pediatric pulmonologist. METHODS: The QOL of 31 families of asthmatic children (aged 5-11) was measured before and 3 months after a short and early programme of TE by the French version of the Pictured Child's Quality of Life Self Questionnaire (AUQUEI, AUtoquestionnaire QUalité de vie Enfant Imagé) for the children, and by the Paediatric Asthma Caregiver's Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ) for the parents. The other criteria studied were asthma management, school and workplace absenteeism and functional respiratory parameters. RESULTS: TE did not significantly alter the AUQUEI score (P = 0.67). No change was observed in the different areas studied: autonomy (P = 0.97), leisure activities (P = 0.64), functions (P = 0.88), and social relations (P = 0.51). In contrast, the PACQLQ score considerably improved after TE (P < 0.001), as evidenced by reduced activity limitations (P < 0.001) and improved emotional functioning of parents (P < 0.001). These results were accompanied by a significant improvement in asthma management, with, in particular, a major decrease in the use of medication (P < 0.001) and the number of unscheduled medical consultations (P < 0.001) and visits to the emergency department (P = 0.02); a decrease in school absenteeism (P = 0.009); and an improvement in forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1 ) (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our TE program had rapid and beneficial effects on numerous objective and subjective parameters, thereby contributing to the well-being of the families and probably to a subsequent decrease in the overall cost of asthma management. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2015; 50:213-221. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.