Bullying Part of Life for Kids With Asthma

Nov. 6, 2010— -- VANCOUVER -- One in 10 kids with asthma reports bullying or teasing related to the condition; its impact on other aspects of life varies from country to country, researchers found.

Asthma had the worst impact on Canadian children, who were more likely to report feeling sad and to express regret at being unable to participate in sports than were children in other parts of the world, Dr. William D. Carroll of Derbyshire Children's Hospital in Derby, England, and colleagues reported at the CHEST meeting here.

The universal nature of bullying, though, was "really quite startling," Carroll told MedPage Today.

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"It's not something as a physician we ask our children," he noted in an interview. "We think kids wouldn't do that, but it appears we're wrong and it is quite common."

The findings overall emphasize the need to talk to pediatric asthma patients about bullying specifically as well as what other impact their disease may be having on their life, he said.

The Room to Breathe study included 1,284 kids with asthma and their parents interviewed by phone in Canada, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Britain and in face-to-face interviews in South Africa. Children ages 8 to 15 were interviewed themselves while parental interviews were used for 4- to 8-year-olds.

Based on symptoms reported in the interview, complete asthma control was achieved by only 15.3 percent of the children overall.

The lack of complete control "may be due to steroid fear of parents or underestimation of the impact of asthma on children," the researchers noted in the presentation.

Carroll said one big message for physicians was the need to have conversations about medications and how they work.

"Lots [of parents] are still worried about side effects," he told MedPage Today.

Perceived asthma severity differed substantially between parents and children. For example, Canadian parents matched their children's opinion in just 46% of cases.

Control of asthma was similar for Canadian kids -- representing North America in the study -- as for the rest of the world.