Icelandic and United States families of adolescents with asthma: predictors of health‐related quality of life from the parents’ perspective

Aims. To evaluate cultural differences in sociodemographic factors, illness severity and parents’ perception of their adolescent’s quality of life for Icelandic and USA families of adolescents with asthma; and to determine predictors of parent‐rated quality of life. Background. Asthma is known to have an impact on the quality of life of affected adolescents and their families, but few studies have addressed parents’ perception of their adolescent’s health‐related quality of life. Design. Cross‐sectional exploratory study. Method. The study involved families of adolescents with asthma included 15 from Iceland and 15 from USA, recruited from paediatric practices. Parent and adolescent participants completed questionnaires; this study is based on the parent responses. Data were collected from January–May 2006. Findings. While parents from Iceland and USA were similar in demographic characteristics, parents from Iceland rated their children’s health‐related quality of life (PedsQLTM 3.0, Varni 1998) more positively than did USA parents, even though Icelandic parents were more likely than their USA counterparts to report that their adolescent’s asthma is severe. Significant predictors of parent‐rated quality of life included location (higher scores for Icelandic parents), gender (higher scores for parents of boys), exposure to second hand smoke in the home (higher scores for those not exposed) and frequency of troublesome wheezing (higher scores for lower frequency). Conclusion. Quality of life has been acknowledged as an essential health outcome measure. Even though gender difference was not found in asthma severity, parents of boys perceived their adolescent’s quality of life as more positive compared with parents of girls. It might be helpful for Icelandic and USA families to integrate into care delivery models, cultural differences in parent‐rated quality of life. Relevance to clinical practice. Asthma management interventions may improve quality of life for adolescents with asthma by reducing symptoms. Interventions promoting smoke‐free homes and enhanced self‐monitoring to prevent exacerbations may improve quality of life.