Pediatricians and Mothers of Children with Asthma:
On the same “team,” but not always communicating effectively when it comes to discussing asthma control
 Physicians and mothers of children with asthma see eye to eye Disconnect between physicians and mothers of children with asthma |
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| A Team Approach | Pediatricians Say… | Mothers of Children with Asthma Say… |
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A large majority of pediatricians (88%) agreed that they are partners with their asthma patients in managing asthma. | Similarly, 90% of mothers¹ feel that they are partners with their healthcare providers in managing their child’s asthma. |
| Who's In Control? | Pediatricians Say… | Mothers of Children with Asthma Say… |
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Less than half of pediatricians think their asthma patients are good at controlling their asthma: only 42% indicated that their patients are “very good” or “good.” | 86% of mothers feel that they are “very good” or “good” at helping to control their child’s asthma. |
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Almost all (99%) of the surveyed pediatricians strongly or somewhat agree that mild to moderate asthmatics should have their asthma controlled; 98% also strongly or somewhat agreed if a patient uses a fast acting inhaler too often, his or her asthma is not under control. | And while 65% of mothers feel like their child’s asthma symptoms are “completely” or “very much” under control, 45% say that their child has had to adjust his or her life out of concern over experiencing asthma symptoms. |
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For the 58% of pediatricians who thought their patients were “somewhat good” or “not good at all” in controlling their child’s asthma, 92%* stated that patients do not always take their asthma medications properly. * Caution should be used when interpreting these results due to small base size (n=59) |
Of the 12% of mothers who thought they were only "somewhat good" or "not good at all" at controlling their child’s asthma, 27%* said that they did not know enough about keeping asthma under control and 26%* indicated that their child doesn’t always take his or her medications properly. * Caution should be used when interpreting these results due to small base size (n=25) |
| Defining Control | Pediatricians Say… | Mothers of Children with Asthma Say… |
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63% of pediatricians felt that they have a different definition of what it means to keep their patient's asthma under control than their patients. | In comparison, fewer mothers¹ (25%) felt they had a different definition of what it means to keep their child's asthma under control than their children’s health care provider. |
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Some pediatricians reported that the most important factors in defining asthma control are:
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Some mothers reported the following as the most important factors in defining asthma control:
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| Qualitative vs. Quantitative Measures | Pediatricians Say… | Mothers of Children with Asthma Say… |
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The majority of pediatricians (87%) say they discuss asthma control with their patients on a regular basis; responses indicate that these discussions can focus on quantitative issues such as:
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Many mothers cited asthma symptoms as negatively impacting various aspects of their child’s life:
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A majority of pediatricians most often say they describe asthma control to the mothers of their patients as:
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Fewer mothers¹ say they remember their child’s health care provider describing asthma control as:
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| Priorities Aligned | Pediatricians Say… | Mothers of Children with Asthma Say… |
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Pediatricians most often cited helping asthma patients continue with activities of their daily life, as the most important asthma treatment regimen goal (50%). This was followed by reducing the frequency of asthma symptoms (20%), reducing the severity of asthma symptoms (16%) and reducing the number of times they need to take a fast acting inhaler (13%). | Being able to let their child continue with activities of daily life was listed as the most important goal of asthma treatment for 48% of mothers. This was followed by reducing the severity of asthma symptoms (20%), reducing the frequency of asthma symptoms (19%) and reducing the number of times their child needs to use a fast acting inhaler (8%). |
| Trigger Awareness & Action | Pediatricians Say… | Mothers of Children with Asthma Say… |
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Approximately half (47%) of pediatricians thought that their patients were “very aware” or “aware” of their child’s asthma triggers; 52% felt that their patients were only “somewhat aware”. | Over half of mothers (54%) felt that they were “very aware” or “aware;” 40% felt that they were just “somewhat aware” of the triggers of their child’s asthma. 6% of mothers said that they were “not at all” aware. |
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85% of pediatricians strongly or somewhat agree that, in general, their patients proactively attempt to avoid the triggers of their asthma. | 88% of mothers who are at least somewhat aware of their child’s asthma triggers say that they strongly or somewhat agree that they proactively attempt to have their child avoid asthma triggers. |
| Rescue Inhalers | Pediatricians Say… | Mothers of Children with Asthma Say… |
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Over half (55%) of pediatricians think that using fast acting inhalers once a week or less is an ideal frequency. Only 5% of pediatricians thought that at least two times a week was ideal, while 19% said “never” is ideal. | 32% of mothers think that using a fast acting inhaler once a week or less is ideal. 20% of patients think that using at least two times per week is ideal, while 12% think that “never” is ideal. |
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Only 8% of pediatricians said that they think using fast acting inhalers at least twice a week is acceptable. | More than twice that-- 19% --of mothers feel that using a fast acting inhaler at least twice a week is acceptable. |
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The majority of pediatricians (78%) strongly or somewhat agree their patients rely on their fast acting inhaler to minimize the impact of asthma on their daily life. | Fewer mothers of children who use a fast acting inhaler feel the same way: only 56% strongly or somewhat agreed that their child relies on it to minimize the impact of asthma on his or her daily life. |
(1) Note: These are mothers whose children with asthma see a health care provider for asthma.
About the Survey Methodology
AAFA commissioned two surveys conducted online by Harris Interactive. The surveys were designed to interview adult patients of asthma, mothers of children with asthma, primary care physicians and pediatricians. Questions asked about asthma control as well as overall asthma symptoms, impact of asthma on everyday life and treatments.
The first survey interviewed a total of 354 physicians, who saw at least seven patients diagnosed with asthma weekly, had been in practice for two or more years since residency, and had a practice that was mostly office- or clinic-based, and included 254 primary care physicians and 100 pediatricians. Interviews were conducted from December 5, 2006 to December 18, 2006. Figures for sex, years in practice and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their respective total populations.
The second survey interviewed a total of 585 asthma patients, ages 22-59, who took a prescription medication to treat their asthma and 274 adult mothers who had at least one child under age 18 with asthma. Interviews were conducted from December 5, 2006 to January 3, 2007. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their respective total populations. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
With a pure probability sample of 100 pediatricians and 274 adult mothers who had at least one under age 18 with asthma, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall pediatrician results have a sampling error of +/- 12 percentage points and the overall mothers results have a sampling error of +/- 9 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples may be higher and may vary. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. The online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.