Using Parental Perceptions of Childhood Allergic Rhinitis to Inform Primary Care Management

• Published in: Clinical pediatrics 2014-07, Vol.53 (8), p.758-763
• Main Authors: Garbutt, Jane M., Sterkel, Randall, Mullen, Kathy B., Conlon, Bridget, Leege, Erin, Bloomberg, Gordon, Strunk, Robert C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adrenal Cortex Hormones - therapeutic use; Allergies; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Help-Seeking Behavior; Histamine Antagonists - therapeutic use; Humans; Male; Outdoor activities; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Parents & parenting; Patient Outcome Assessment; Pediatrics; Perception; Perceptions; Primary care; Primary Health Care - utilization; Professional-Family Relations; Rhinitis, Allergic - drug therapy; Rhinitis, Allergic - physiopathology; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States
• ISSN: 0009-9228; 1938-2707
• DOI: 10.1177/0009922814533590

Objective. To describe parents’ experience with their child’s allergic rhinitis (AR) to inform management by the primary care provider (PCP). Study Design. Two hundred parents with a child 7 to 15 years old with AR symptoms within the past 12 months completed a paper survey. Results. The child’s AR was identified as a significant problem in spring (89.3%), fall (63.4%), summer (50.3%), and winter (21.4%); 51.3% had persistent disease. AR symptoms most commonly interfered with the child’s outdoor activities and sleeping, and frequently bothered the parent and other family members. Most parents (88.3%) wanted to know what their child was allergic to and had many concerns about treatment options. A total of 62.9% had sought AR care from the PCP in the past 12 months. Conclusions. Many families experience significant morbidity from their child’s AR and turn to their PCP for help. We identified opportunities for the PCP to reduce AR morbidity.