Parental and Child Knowledge and Usage of the Air Quality Index for Childhood Asthma Management
Year: 2021
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Introduction: The Air Quality Index (AQI) alerts the public to overall air quality and provides behavioral recommendations to reduce the risk of harm. While outdoor air pollution is known to cause asthma exacerbations, little is known about parental and child knowledge and usage of the AQI in managing childhood asthma. Methods: The AQICAI is a pilot randomized clinical trial designed to determine the efficacy of adding the AQI and behavioral recommendations to childhood asthma action plans (NCT:04454125). At the initial (prerandomization) study visit, 40 parents/legal guardians of 40 children with persistent asthma aged 8-17 years from our large pediatric referral center responded to questionnaires about their knowledge, healthcare provider discussion, and usage of the AQI. Child participants responded to an AQI usage questionnaire. Fisher's exact test was used for comparisons between groups. Results: Of participating parents, 31 (78%) were mothers, 24 (60%) were white, 21 (53%) reported living poor/paycheck-to-paycheck. Of participating children (mean age 12.5 years), 20 (50%) were female, and 22 (55%) were Black or multiracial. Thirty-eight (95%) of parents reported knowing about the AQI or alerts, and 26 (65%) reported air pollution as an asthma trigger. Half of the parents did not change their child's activity because of pollution, and 88% did not check the AQI via AirNow smartphone app or website. Healthcare provider discussion of air quality behavior modification was low overall (22%); however, 78% of parents who reported such a discussion also reported modifying their child's behavior at least once in the past year (p=0.0001). Only half of the participants reported healthcare provider discussion of air pollution as an asthma trigger. This was lower in fathers than in mothers (0% vs. 62% females, p=0.01) and increased for parents of male children (70% vs. 35% female child). Most parents wanted healthcare providers to discuss pollution, though this differed by parental gender (100% males vs. 47% females, p=0.04). Most children with asthma did not check the AQI prior to outside activity (90%) and did not alter activity because of the AQI (80%). Conclusions: In a pilot sample of parents of children with persistent asthma, most parents were aware of the AQI, and air pollution as a trigger for their child's asthma yet did not modify outdoor activity because of air quality. Few parents received appropriate behavioral recommendations from healthcare providers, although such discussion may increase air pollution avoidance behaviors.
Institutions: Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4245166133