Asthma school for asthmatic children and their parents.

Therapeutic education is becoming essential in the management of asthmatic children. The objective of this type of education is to modify in a durable manner the knowledge and behaviour of parents so as to decrease the morbidity of the disease. Objectives. - To describe the population of patients whose parents attend the asthma school at Necker-Enfants-Malades Hospital and to evaluate the impact of this educational activity. Methods. - We included the 54 children whose parents attended the asthma school from September 27th to December 31st, 2000. Two educational sessions were offered. Socio-demographic and medical data were collected and markers of this educational activity were assessed by means of three questionnaires. The parents first answered questions immediately after the educational session. The second questionnaire was completed 3 to 6 months later. Results. - The mean age of the patients was 8 years and 3 months, The patients were of French origin, living in traditional family structures in the Ile-de France region. All had symptomatic asthma, affecting their quality of life and requiring active treatment. During the immediate evaluation, the knowledge and behaviour of the parents were judged to be correct. Some parents changed attitudes or behaviour later, particularly with respect to the means of managing asthma episodes or their beliefs concerning possible secondary effects of the treatment or the origins of the child's asthma. The follow-up period was too short, and the sample too small to draw any firm conclusions on the impact of this educational action on morbidity. Conclusion. - The structured educational action is effective. It should be adapted to patients and reinforced later because its effects may be transient. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.