Parental knowledge and misconceptions about asthma: A controlled study

Abstract

We interviewed the parents of 128 asthmatic children about their knowledge and misconceptions of asthma. Two-third or more gave correct responses to questions on aetiology and pathogenesis, pathophysiology, symptomatology, precipitants and outcome of asthma. A control group of parents of 110 children admitted to the hospital with minor surgical complaints performed equally well on the knowledge questions, except for four sub-questions: (1) allergy as an aetiologic factor in asthma (64.5% vs 83.6%, P = 0.002), (2) constriction of airways as a bodily change during an asthmatic attack (75.4% vs 91.3%, P = 0.004), (3) cough as a symptom of asthma (82.7% vs 99.2%, P