Parents urged to have asthma plan for children

Parents of children with asthma have been found wanting when it comes to managing the condition, evidenced by the almost one in eight who had to bring their child to the emergency department last year.

Research released to coincide with World Asthma Day found more than two in five parents of asthmatics did not know what an asthma management plan was — despite it being essential to controlling the condition.

The vital written plan, developed with a GP, outlines daily treatment, which inhaler to use, when to use it, and how to handle worsening asthma or attacks. Yet just 17% of parents had a plan in place.

Sharon Cosgrove, CEO of the Asthma Society of Ireland, said it was concerning that parents were so reliant on emergency treatment for their child’s asthma.

Equally concerning was the finding that less than half (42%) of parents of children with asthma had arranged for a spare inhaler to be kept at their child’s school.

“Having safeguards in place at school in particular is very important for the management of asthma in children,” Ms Cosgrove said.

The research, conducted among 750 parents and commissioned by the Asthma Society with the support of Boots Ireland, revealed that, of the parents surveyed, one in four had to go to an out-of-hours GP service to cope with worsening asthma symptoms.

The same number had not taken any action to manage their child’s asthma at school, even though everyone caring for a child with the condition should be aware of their asthma management plan. This includes teachers. The research found one in three parents have arranged to meet their child’s teacher to discuss asthma management.

Ms Cosgrove said they were urging parents to put asthma management plans in place and there was an ideal opportunity to do this by availing of free asthma consultation clinics to be held in Boots pharmacies nationwide for the month of May as part of their ‘Helping Parents to Breathe Easy’ campaign.

A new report in the UK looking at the deaths of 195 asthma patients, including 28 children, found that many of the patients who died had excessively used their reliever inhalers in the months leading up to their deaths — indicating that they were not managing the disease well.

Three quarters of those who died did not have a personalised asthma plan and one in 10 had been admitted to hospital for an acute asthma attack within four weeks of their death.

One in five children in Ireland is affected by asthma and one person dies as a result of the condition every day.

* For advice or support on asthma, or for further information about the asthma management clinics to be held nationwide, visit www.asthma.ie or www.boots.ie or phone the Asthma Advice line on 1850 44 54 64 to speak to an asthma nurse.