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Paed Asthma – Improves quality of life

Evidence Summary
All studies that assessed quality of life as an outcome measure showed an improvement within the physical activity intervention groups. This improvement ranged from small to significant improvements, with most studies showing a significant improvement. There was no apparent correlation between improved quality of life outcomes and the frequency, intensity, timing, or type of the physical activity performed.


Quality of Evidence
Grade A – High Quality – there is a large body of work looking at the effect of physical activity on the quality of life (QOL) in paediatric and adolescent patients with asthma. These include cross-sectional studies, longitudinal studies, and systematic reviews.
Strength of Recommendation
1A. Strong recommendation, high quality evidence.


Conclusion
The published research is strongly in favour of physical activity significantly improving quality of life in paediatric and adolescent asthmatic populations, with the studies having a large mean effect size. Improvements were also seen in care givers’ quality of life in one study.


References
Abdelbasset, W. K., S. F. Alsubaie, S. A. Tantawy, T. I. Abo Elyazed and D. M. Kamel (2018). “Evaluating pulmonary function, aerobic capacity, and pediatric quality of life following a 10-week aerobic exercise training in school-aged asthmatics: a randomized controlled trial.” Patient Prefer Adherence 12: 1015-1023.
Andrade, L. B., M. C. Britto, N. Lucena-Silva, R. G. Gomes and J. N. Figueroa (2014). “The efficacy of aerobic training in improving the inflammatory component of asthmatic children. Randomized trial.” Respir Med 108(10): 1438-1445.
Joschtel, B., S. R. Gomersall, S. Tweedy, H. Petsky, A. B. Chang and S. G. Trost (2018). “Effects of exercise training on physical and psychosocial health in children with chronic respiratory disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med 4(1): e000409.
Latorre-Roman, P. A., A. V. Navarro-Martinez and F. Garcia-Pinillos (2014). “The effectiveness of an indoor intermittent training program for improving lung function, physical capacity, body composition and quality of life in children with asthma.” J Asthma 51(5): 544-551.
Matsunaga, N. Y., M. S. Oliveira, A. M. Morcillo, J. D. Ribeiro, M. Ribeiro and A. Toro (2017). “Physical activity and asthma control level in children and adolescents.” Respirology 22(8): 1643-1648.
Moreira, A., L. Delgado, T. Haahtela, J. Fonseca, P. Moreira, C. Lopes, J. Mota, P. Santos, P. Rytilä and M. Castel-Branco (2008). “Physical training does not increase allergic inflammation in asthmatic children.” European respiratory journal 32(6): 1570-1575.
Zhang, Y. F. and L. D. Yang (2019). “Exercise training as an adjunctive therapy to montelukast in children with mild asthma: A randomized controlled trial.” Medicine (Baltimore) 98(2): e14046.