Caregiver Depressive Symptoms and Primary Medication Nonadherence in Children With Asthma

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for primary medication nonadherence among low-income minority children with persistent asthma.

Method: Data were from an environmental control and educational intervention for children with uncontrolled asthma who were treated in the emergency department for an asthma exacerbation. Presence or absence of pharmacy records for child asthma medications was the outcome of interest. A range of sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial measures were included in the binary logistic regression.

Results: Of the 222 youths (mean age = 6.3 years; 93.7% Black), 25 (11.3%) lacked pharmacy records of asthma medications. For every 1-point increase in caregiver depressive symptoms, the odds of the child having a pharmacy record declined by 5% (odds ratio = 0.95; p = .012).

Discussion: Providers should systematically assess and monitor caregiver depressive symptoms as a potential contributing factor for primary medication nonadherence in low-income minority children with persistent, uncontrolled asthma.