Smartest Doc
Medication Adherence Among Latino and Non-Latino White Children With Asthma Full Text
Pediatrics, 06/04/2012
McQuaid EL et al. – Adherence to controller medications was lower among Latino children in sample. Targeted interventions that capitalize on existing family resources, emphasize structure, and address parental beliefs about the importance of medications may be of benefit to families from different cultural backgrounds.
Methods- Data collection occurred as part of a multicenter study of asthma disparities.
- These sample included children (ages 7–16) prescribed objectively monitored controller medications (n = 277; 80 island Puerto Rico, 114 RI Latino, 83 RI NLW).
- Parents completed questionnaires regarding family background and beliefs about medications.
- Families participated in an interview regarding asthma management.
- Multilevel analyses (maximum likelihood estimates) accounting for children being nested within site and ethnic group assessed the contribution of social context, family, and parent variables to medication adherence.
- Medication adherence differed by ethnic group, with NLW families demonstrating the highest levels of adherence.
- Multilevel models indicated that parental beliefs about medication necessity and family organization regarding medication use were significant predictors of adherence, even for families below the poverty threshold.
- With family factors in the model, a substantial improvement in model fit occurred (Akaike Information Criterion change of 103.45).