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Chronic childhood asthma is a leading cause of poor quality of life. Factors associated with this major asthma outcome were controversial. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of life of children and adolescents with mild to moderate asthma and to determine the factors associated with quality of life impairment in this population. This was a descriptive study carried out in the pediatric outpatient clinic of a University Hospital in the center of Tunisia over a period of 3 months (April-June 2018). Participants were children with mild to moderate asthma aged 7 to 17 years. The Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire was used to assess quality of life. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of asthma-related quality of life. A total of 90 children participated in the study. Almost 68% of children were aged 7 to 11, and nearly 32% were adolescents. The mean of PAQLQ total score was 4.7 ± 1.2. The final logistic regression model demonstrated that asthma symptoms control had the greatest impact on quality of life, followed by acute health care use in the past 12 months (

Childhood asthma still imposes an enormous burden on children and their families. To the best of our knowledge, no study reviewed the literature on the effect of family asthma education on major asthma outcomes. This study aimed to explore the effect of family education programs on major asthma outcomes in children. Quasi-experimental studies and randomized controlled trials were conducted among children with asthma aged 6–18 years and their parents were included. Pub Med, Science Direct, and Trip databases were used to extract data published in English from 2010 to 2021. Twenty-two studies were reported in this review. It was demonstrated that family empowerment interventions were effective in improving the quality of life of children and their parents, asthma symptom control, and pulmonary function. Family education that was specific to medication improved medication adherence, inhalation technique, and asthma control. Family asthma education enhanced asthma management and family functioning. This approach should be a cornerstone of pediatric asthma therapy. It helps health care professionals to build a strong connection and trustful relationship with children with asthma and their families.

Over the past decades, health-related quality of life (HRQL) has become a major topic of research in the context of chronic conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). HRQL assessment became a part of the mandatory criteria for judging the effectiveness of a therapeutic care plan. COPD still imposes an enormous burden on patients and health care systems. Daily symptoms, poor pulmonary function, and medication use can affect the social and physical life components of patients. Indeed, HRQL predictors in COPD patients were controversial in the literature. To this end, we conducted a review of the literature to describe COPD-related factors that influence the HRQL of patients. This study included research articles published in English from 2010 to 2020. This review of sparse and well-designed literature gave a current state-of-the-art that could be useful for clinicians, and in establishing advanced COPD management plans.

Purpose In pediatric asthma, family empowerment education has been beneficial for the quality of life, pulmonary function, and family functioning. Few studies addressed the impact of a family empowerment program on asthma symptom control, acute healthcare use (AHCU), and medication use in children with asthma. This study aimed to assess the effect of a family empowerment intervention on asthma symptom control, AHCU, inhaler technique, and controller adherence in children with asthma. Design and methods A single-center study using a randomized controlled design was conducted in a university hospital in the center of Tunisia from May 2018 to September 2019. Eighty-two families were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 41) of 8 weeks of group training sessions, or to the control group (n = 41) of usual care education. Thirty-seven families in the intervention group and 39 families in the control group received allocated intervention at baseline. Thirty-four families in each group completed the study at the 12-month follow-up. Results At baseline, the intervention and control groups were statistically comparable (p > .05). At follow-up, there were significant differences between the intervention and the control group in asthma symptom control, χ2 (1, N = 34) = 9.950, p = .002, and inhalation technique, χ2 (1, N = 34) = 5.916, p = .01. For AHCU and adherence to asthma controller, there was no significant difference between groups, χ2 (1, N = 34) = 3.219, p = .07, χ2 (1, N = 34) = 0.541, p = .46, respectively. The difference within time in asthma symptom control and inhalation technique was significant (p = 10-3 , p = .001; respectively). Practice implications This study demonstrated that a family empowerment program significantly improved asthma symptom control and inhaler technique in children with asthma aged 7-17 years. This intervention could be clinically useful and time-saving for pediatric nurses.

Asthma is a leading cause of acute health care use (AHCU) as defined by hospitalization and emergency department visits (ED). Little was known about factors associated with asthma-related AHCU. This study aimed to identify factors determining AHCU in children and adolescents with asthma. A descriptive study was conducted among children with mild to severe asthma referred to the pediatric outpatient clinic of "Farhat Hached" University Hospital of Sousse (Tunisia) over a period of three months (April-June 2018). We collected data regarding clinical information, the number of hospitalizations and ED visits related to asthma in the past 12 months, asthma management behaviors, and quality of life of children. Multivariable logistic regression was performed using SPSS (20.0). A total of 90 children have participated in the study. The percentage of children aged 7 to 11 years was higher than the percentage of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years (67.8%; 32.2%, respectively). The final logistic regression model demonstrated that asthma severity and inhaler technique increased the odds of AHCU (OR a = 4.6; 95% CI: 1.1-18.1

Patient education is fundamental in asthma management, especially at pediatric age. It is increasingly recognized as effective in reducing the burden of the disease, but is less clear in improving the quality of life of children with asthma and their parents. This study assessed the effect of an asthma therapeutic education program on pulmonary function and quality of life in children with asthma and their parents.A monocentric randomized controlled trial conducted in Farhat Hached University Hospital of Sousse (Tunisia) from May 2018 to September 2019. Thirty-seven families in the experimental group and 39 families in the control group received allocated intervention at baseline. Thirty-four families in each group completed the study at the 12-month follow-up.The intervention significantly improved quality of life scores of children and their parents (all p 0.05). Children in the experimental group had significantly better forced expiratory maneuver than children in the control group. Nonetheless, the FEV1/FVC ratio did not show any significant difference in the experimental and control group (p = 0.9; p = 0.14, respectively).This study demonstrated that a long-term family-based asthma education program resulted in better pulmonary function and QOL of children and parents enrolled in the intervention group, particularly children with non-allergic asthma.Family-based asthma education can reduce the burden of allergic and non-allergic asthma on children and their parents through improving their quality of life. Also, the pulmonary function of children with non-allergic asthma was improved due to My Asthma Therapeutic Education intervention.

Background Childhood asthma still imposes a substantial burden on the health care system and community. Its management requires a significant direct cost. Several factors can influence the cost of asthma management, particularly severe asthma. There is scant information about the predictors of asthma-related cost. Thus, the purpose of this study was to estimate direct asthma-related cost among children with chronic asthma and to identify factors that have the greatest contribution to change it. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out in Farhat Hached University Hospital in Sousse (Tunisia, Africa) over a period of three months (April-June 2018) among children with asthma aged 7-17 years. The direct cost was defined as the costs of health resources utilization and medication related to asthma in the past 12 months. Purchasing power parity technique was used to convert TND to USD. Multiple linear regression was performed to examine the association between dependent and independent variables. Results A total of 90 subjects participated in the study. The mean age was 9.81±2.56 and 55.6% were male. The annual mean of the total direct cost was USD 616.71±454. Multivariate analysis showed that the severity of asthma, inhalation technique and emotional domain of QOL predict asthma cost and that the latter was the best predictor (p = 0.005, p = 0.03, p = 0.004, respectively). This data indicates that for one child with mild asthma, correct inhaler technique, and moderate impairment of emotional function QOL domain, estimated asthma direct cost was equal to 1035.21 USD per 12 months. Conclusions This study showed that higher severity of asthma, incorrect inhaler technique and a lower score of emotional function increased direct cost related to asthma. These results are useful for health care providers and community since they provide information about the impact of modifiable risk factors on direct asthma cost. Key messages For one child with mild asthma, correct inhaler technique, and moderate impairment of emotional function QOL domain, estimated asthma direct cost was equal to 1035.21 USD per 12 months. Higher severity of asthma, incorrect inhaler technique and a lower score of emotional function increased direct cost related to asthma.

Introduction: intensive care unit (ICU) beds are a scarce resource, and admissions may require prioritization when demand exceeds supply. However, there are few data regarding both outcomes of admitted patients to intensive care unit (ICU) in comparison with outcomes of not admitted patients. The aim of this study was to assess reasons and factors associated to refusal of admission to ICU as well as the impact on mortality at 28 days and patients' outcomes. Methods: Single-center, cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in 8-bed Medical ICU at a Tunisian University hospital. All consecutive adult patients referred for admission to ICU during 6 months were included. We collected demographic data, ICU admission/refusal reasons, co-morbidity and diagnosis at time of admission, mortality probability model (MPMII0) score, day and time of admission, request for admission and mortality at 28 days. Results: 327 patients were evaluated for ICU admission and 260 were refused to ICU (79.5%). Patients refused because of unavailability of beds represented 50% and patients considered "too sick to benefit" represented 22%. Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of acute respiratory failure and request by direct contact in the unit were independently associated to admission to ICU (OR: 0.15; 95% CI: 0.07-0.31 and OR: 0.16; 95% CI: 0.08-0.31, respectively). Higher mortality rates were shown in patients "too sick to benefit" (80.7%) and unavailable beds (26.56%). Conclusion: Refusal of ICU admission was correlated with the severity of acute illness, lack of ICU beds and reasons for admission request. ICU clinicians should evaluate their triage decisions and, if possible, routinely solicit patient preferences during medical emergencies, taking steps to ensure that ICU admission decisions are in line with the goals of the patient. Ultimately, these efforts will help ensure that scarce ICU resources are used most effectively and efficiently.