TUESDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Canadian children with
asthma feel more isolated from their peers than children with
asthma in other countries surveyed, according to a new study.
Compared to kids with asthma in five other countries, Canadian
children with asthma were more likely to feel sad (18.2 percent
versus 12.1 percent) and left out (13.2 percent versus 8.4
percent). They also were less likely to feel "no different" than
their peers (31.5 percent versus 51.4 percent). More than half of
the Canadian kids surveyed considered asthma to be a barrier to
sports (54.1 percent) while only 35.2 percent of kids from other
countries felt that way.
"The data suggest that Canadian children with asthma may be missing out on being involved in sports because they feel excluded," lead researcher Dr. William Carroll, of Derbyshire Children's Hospital in the United Kingdom, said in a news release from the American College of Chest Physicians.
"It's also possible that sports involving cold air, such as ice hockey, which is popular in Canada, are more difficult for those with asthma," he added.
Carroll and colleagues from Switzerland and the Netherlands
interviewed 228 Canadian parents of children with asthma and 159
Canadian children aged 4 to 15 who had asthma. They also examined
parent and child interviews conducted in Greece, Hungary, the
Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
The study authors found that rates of complete asthma control
among children were low in Canada (11.8 percent) as well as in the
other countries (15.3 percent), perhaps because of worries about
steroid medications.
Among the other findings:
- U.K. parents were least likely to say their child's asthma
limited their day-to-day activities.
- South African parents had the highest level of concern for
their children with asthma.
- Greek parents were most likely to make changes in their
household, such as reducing allergens, in an effort to control or
reduce the risk to their children with asthma.
- Dutch parents were least concerned about steroid-based asthma
medications, and their children were most likely to use this
treatment.
The study findings were slated for presentation on Monday at the
annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in
Vancouver.
More information
The American Lung Association has more about
asthma and children.