The Impact of Parents’ Medication Beliefs on Asthma Management

09-12-2007 | Categories:

The Impact of Parents’ Medication Beliefs on Asthma Management
Kelly M. Conn, MPHa, Jill S. Halterman, MD, MPHa, Kathleen Lynch, BAa and Michael D. Cabana, MD, MPHb. PEDIATRICS Vol. 120 No. 3 September 2007, pp. e521-e526. Published online August 31, 2007







The Study

This study looked at the effect parental beliefs about asthma medications have on their children’s medication adherence. To determine the parents’ beliefs, they were asked to complete a Beliefs About Medications Questionnaire (BMQ), which measured the necessity, or the extent to which they believed a child’s sickness necessitated taking medication and the concern, or the extent to which a parent worried about possible risks associated with the drugs, such as side effects and potential for dependency. A differential score was calculated by subtracting the concern score from the necessity score. This served as a weighed appraisal of each parent’s beliefs.

Results (excerpted from the study):

The majority of children were nonminority. Overall, 72% of parents felt that their child’s asthma medications were necessary, and 30% had strong concerns about the medications. For 77% of parents, necessity scores were higher than concern scores, and for 17%, concern exceeded necessity. Nonminority parents were more likely to have necessity scores exceed concern scores compared with minority parents (79% vs 68%). Mean adherence scores increased as the necessity-concern differential increased. In a multivariate mixed-model regression, a greater necessity-concern differential score and being nonminority predicted better adherence.


Commentary

It’s no surprise that children are dependent on their parents to make healthcare decisions and that ones attitude toward the usefulness and dangers of medication affect adherence to that medication dosage schedule. Still, that this assumption has been verified by research is heartening.



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