Asthma control, coronaphobia and physical activity levels of children with asthma in social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to evaluate children and adolescents with asthma in terms of asthma control, social isolation, coronaphobia, and physical activity (PA) level during the pandemic. Methods: In this cross-sectional, prospective study, 45 patients with childhood asthma and 49 healthy peers aged 6-18 years were included. The Asthma Control Test (Child: C-ACT/Adolescent: ACT), Physical Activity Questionnaire (Child: PAQ-C/Adolescent: PAQ-A), and the social isolation (days/month) and coronaphobia questions created by the researchers were applied via the Google Forms link address. Results: ACT scores were found to be 22.1 +/- 0.7 for C-ACT and 22.2 +/- 0.6 for ACT. The mean PAQ-C scores were 2.4 +/- 0.8, 2.6 +/- 0.7 in asthmatic and healthy children respectively, the mean PAQ-A scores were 2.1 +/- 0.6, 2.4 +/- 0.7 in asthmatic and healthy adolescents respectively. Whereas 15 (71.4%) of children with asthma were inactive, 19 (79.2%) of adolescents with asthma were inactive during the pandemic. Fear of hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection was higher in the asthmatic adolescent group than healthy peers (p<0.001). The families of adolescents with asthma went outside the home to open and closed areas for more days during the pandemic (p=0.004 for outdoors, p<0.001 for indoors).Conclusions: During COVID-19, adolescents with asthma a greater fear of hospitalization, and their families adhered less social isolation and stay-at-home precautions. PA was similarly low both asthmatic and healthy children/adolescents. The interventions the negatively affected PA both in asthmatic and healthy children/adolescents and concerns related to COVID-19 infection should be considered by health professionals during and after pandemic.