Parental perception concerning the use of peak flow meters in the child with asthma

Abstract

A descriptive, correlational research design was used to identify parental perceptions concerning the use of peak flow meters (PFM) in their children. The sample consisted of 20 parents who were accessed through outpatient asthma allergy clinics. The questionnaire and semi-structured interview were utilized as tools and analyzed using inferential statistics and content analysis. The revised Health Promotion Model by Dr. Nola Pender provided the theoretical framework; Content analysis provided a rich narrative as it described the perceived barriers and benefits of PFM use, prior related behavior for use or non-use of the PFM, and the nature of education that parents and children receive regarding the PFM. The barriers that decreased the use of the PFM included innovative asthma medication and increased asthma control. The benefits included guiding medication use and valuable for prediction. Statistical significance was found between severity of asthma and many variables, but there was no significance with the frequency of using the PFM