Caregivers of Children With Asthma Share Preferences for Asthma Control Interventions

Health care providers have the potential to support children with asthma by providing resources and programs that address common caregiver concerns, especially when children have a high risk of exacerbations, according to a study published in JMIR Formative Research.

In the longitudinal study, the researchers aimed to identify the interests and preferences for interventions and delivery methods among caregivers of children with asthma, as well as understand if these preferences differed among caregivers depending on the child being at a low or high risk of exacerbations.

“The take-home message of our study is clear: with limited exceptions, caregivers of children with high risk and low risk of asthma exacerbation do not generally differ in the intervention programs that they prefer,” wrote the researchers of the study. “Instead, they differ in the magnitude of their interest. Specifically, caregivers of children with a high exacerbation risk reported greater interest in all intervention programs and delivery methods.”

The study was comprised of 2 internet-based surveys administered to individuals living in the United States. The time 1 survey was conducted between January 2021 to February 2021, and the time 2 survey was conducted between April 2021 to May 2021.

A total of 394 caregivers reported their interest in 9 possible intervention programs and 8 possible intervention delivery methods. Caregivers were also asked to indicate their preferences by selecting 3 intervention programs and 3 delivery methods that they were most interested in. Additionally, the caregivers were assigned 2 open-ended questions on what other resources might be useful for managing their children’s asthma.

Children were classified as having a high risk of asthma exacerbation if they had an exacerbation within the past 3 months (n = 116), while children without were grouped as low-risk (n = 278).

The survey results showed that caregivers reported higher levels of interest in all intervention programs and delivery methods if they cared for a child with a high risk of exacerbation compared with caregivers of children with a low risk of exacerbation.

Additionally, the survey revealed that regardless of risk status, caregivers expressed the highest levels of interest in child self-management skill programs, help paying for asthma care, and the ability to work with school programs to manage asthma. Caregivers also reported the highest levels of interest in delivery methods that would allow them personal control over accessing information, such as websites, videos, printed materials, and smartphone apps.

Furthermore, the caregivers’ preferences remained consistent with their interests, meaning the programs and delivery methods rated with high interest were also selected as one of the 3 that interested them the most.

Lastly, while most caregivers did not provide additional suggestions in the open-ended questions, a few provided suggestions for programs and delivery methods that were not included in the study, such as education about how to avoid triggers, as well as education reminders.

The researchers acknowledged some limitations to the study, including the possible overlap between the categorization on recent exacerbation and asthma control. Additionally, because the survey was conducted using the internet, it may have excluded caregivers with low digital literacy who may also prefer other methods of intervention and delivery.

Despite these limitations, the findings of the study suggest the need for preferred intervention programs among caregivers of children with asthma regardless of severity, particularly programs that offer financial assistance, self-management education, and provide caregiver control of access to asthma information.

“Our findings provide insights into the interventions and delivery methods that caregivers prefer and suggest that interventionists may not need to tailor the types of programs or delivery methods based on children’s risk of exacerbation,” wrote the researchers. “It also suggests that regardless of exacerbation risk, caregivers prioritize delivery methods that enable privacy and control. The next step for researchers is to find ways to translate these findings into programs that can benefit caregivers.”

Reference

Pogge G, Fedele DA, Waters EA, et al. Exploring caregiver interest in and preferences for interventions for children with risk of asthma exacerbation: web-based survey. JMIR Form Res. 2023;7:e46341. Published August 2, 2023. doi:10.2196/46341