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Evidence summaries

Family Therapy for Chronic Asthma in Children

Family therapy may have some limited effect in asthma management in children. Level of evidence: "C"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included two trials with a total of 55 children. Results could not be combined because of differences in outcome measures used. In one study, gas volume, PEF and daytime wheeze showed improvement in family therapy patients compared to controls. In the other study, there was an improvement in overall clinical assessment and number of functionally impaired days in the family therapy group. Neither trial showed any difference in FEV or medication used.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by small study sizes and lack of standardisation.

    References

    • Yorke J, Shuldham C. Family therapy for chronic asthma in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2005 Apr 18;(2):CD000089. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords