Understanding childhood asthma in focus groups: perspectives from mothers of different ethnic backgrounds.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Diagnosing childhood asthma is dependent upon parental symptom reporting but there are problems in the use of words and terms. The purpose of this study was to describe and compare understandings of childhood 'asthma' by mothers from three different ethnic backgrounds who have no personal experience of diagnosing asthma. A better understanding of parents' perceptions of an illness by clinicians should improve communication and management of the illness.

Method

Sixty-six mothers living in east London describing their ethnic backgrounds as Bangladeshi, white English and black Caribbean were recruited to 9 focus groups. Discussion was semi-structured. Three sessions were conducted with each ethnic group. Mothers were shown a video clip of a boy with audible wheeze an

SUBMITTER: Cane R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC58588 | biostudies-literature | 2001

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature