Jean-Marie Bruzzese, Lynne Unikel, Patrick Shrout and Rachel Klein tested their Youth Asthma-related Anxiety Scale (YAAS) and Parent Asthma-related Anxiety Scale (PAAS) on a population of adolescents and their parents.
The results highlighted two key factors, anxiety about asthma severity and about disease-related restrictions that are good indicators of overall asthma-related anxiety.
A high level of disease-related anxiety among adults with asthma has been associated with an overreaction to asthma symptoms and overuse of medication.
"Now that we have validated measures for asthma-related anxiety in children and their parents, future research will be able to measure the impact of asthma-related anxiety on asthma outcomes. This will help us better understand how to deliver the best asthma care for our children," said Harold Farber, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Pulmonology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
The study is described in an article in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology. (ANI)
