Washington, Sept 29 : A study by Canadian researchers has shown that a lack of family support and problems in one’s neighbourhood are associated with greater asthma symptoms in children and adolescents.

Dr. Edith Chen and her colleagues at the University of British Columbia enrolled 78 children who had asthma without other chronic illnesses, and assessed the extent to which they perceived support from family, support from peers and problems in their neighbourhood, such as crime and violence.

The researchers also measured the subjects for their lung function using standardized spirometry, and assessed their asthma symptoms based on interviews and daily diaries that the subjects kept.

They further assessed behaviours, including smoking and compliance with medications, and evaluated biological markers of inflammation including IgE, eosinophil count and IL-4 production.

Upon analysis of the information thus collected, the researchers found that asthma symptoms were greater among children who reported less family support and lived in worse neighbourhoods. They revealed that children who reported less family support also had poorer lung function.

The study also showed that family support and asthma outcomes were linked via inflammation, but not behaviours. According to the researchers, low levels of family support were associated with greater inflammation, which in turn was associated with poorer asthma outcomes. Family support did not appear to change children’s behaviours, they said.

The researchers also found that neighbourhood problems and asthma symptoms were linked through behavioural pathways, but not through inflammation. The more problematic neighbourhoods were associated with greater rates of child smoking and exposure to smoke, and smoking in turn was associated with poorer asthma outcomes. In contrast, neighbourhood’s characteristics did not appear to change children’s inflammatory profiles.

“Poor family relations may foster psychological experiences with direct physiologic consequences, whereas problematic neighbourhoods may operate by providing role models for maladaptive behaviours,” Dr. Chen said.

The study also showed that peer group support had no significant effects on asthma symptoms or lung function.

Based on their findings, the researchers reckon that among children with asthma, family and one’s neighbourhood play a more important role in asthma morbidity than do peers. Dr. Chen, however, admits that more research is necessary before drawing any definitive conclusions.

If confirmed in future research, said Dr. Chen, the findings may have important implications for asthma interventions.

“To test these implications, future research is needed that investigates the effects of experimental manipulations of social factors on childhood asthma morbidity,” said Dr. Chen.

The study has been reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and critical care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society. (With inputs from ANI)