The relationship between teen-reported nocturnal asthma symptoms and daily functioning

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to identify associations between nocturnal asthma awakenings and functional health outcomes in a cohort of teenagers with asthma.

Methods: We analyzed baseline data from teenagers enrolled in SB-ACT, an NIH-funded RCT. During an at-home baseline survey, teenagers with asthma answered questions about demographics, recent asthma symptoms, and functional health outcomes. We conducted regression analyses to explore the relationship between persistent nocturnal asthma symptoms (≥2 nights of nocturnal asthma awakenings in the past 14 days) and functional health measures.

Results: Of the 430 teens enrolled (Participation rate = 79%, Mean Age = 13.4), 30% reported persistent nocturnal asthma symptoms. Compared to teens with intermittent nocturnal asthma symptoms, teens with persistent nocturnal asthma symptoms were more likely to report physical limitation during strenuous activities (OR = 1.9, 1.3–3.0), moderate activities (OR = 1.9, 1.2–3.1), and school gym (OR = 2.4, 1.5–3.8). They were also more likely to report depressive symptoms (OR = 2.3, 1.5–3.6), more asthma-related school absenteeism in the past 14 days (0.81 vs 0.12, p < 0.01) and poorer quality of life (4.6 vs 5.9, p < 0.01). These findings remained significant when controlling for daytime asthma symptoms, weight status, race, ethnicity, gender, age, and smoke exposure.

Conclusions: In this cross-sectional study, persistent nighttime asthma symptoms were associated with poor functional health outcomes among teens, independent of day-time symptoms. Identifying nighttime symptoms and improving asthma control at night may positively impact daily functioning for these teens.

Keywords:

• Adolescents
• quality of life
• prevention
• management/control
• activity limitation
• depression

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my mentors and colleagues at The Preventive Care Program for Urban Children with Asthma for their support on this project. This includes the other authors on this paper, as well as colleagues Jessica Metelski, BS and Joshua Rosario, BA who have helped with additional poster and paper edits.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by OME-CACHED, the office for medical student research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. The work is based off of data from another study that was funded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (grant R18-HL116244).