1. Objectifs

Intentions :
The author conducted « [...] five studies to achieve the following objectives: 1. to develop and validate two database indexes, one to measure the control of asthma and the other to measure asthma severity; 2. to evaluate the effect of fetal gender on maternal asthma exacerbations and the use of asthma medications during pregnancy; 3. to evaluate the impact of maternal asthma on adverse perinatal outcomes; 4. to evaluate the impact of the severity of asthma during pregnancy on adverse perinatal outcomes; 5. to evaluate the impact of adequately controlled maternal asthma during pregnancy on adverse perinatal outcomes. » (p. v)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’auteure a travaillé à partir « [...] de trois banques de données administratives du Québec recouvrant la période entre 1990 et 2002 » (p. iii), soit la Régie de l’Assurance Maladie du Québec (RAMQ), la banque de MED-ECHO et le Registre des événements démographiques du Québec géré par l’Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ). Quarante femmes ont aussi répondu à un questionnaire.

Instruments:
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« Asthma is known as one of the most frequent chronic diseases encountered during pregnancy with prevalence estimated between 4 and 8%. The high prevalence of asthma during pregnancy results in some concerns about the impact of pregnancy on maternal asthma and also the impact of maternal asthma on perinatal outcomes. The literature presents conflicting results concerning the impact of maternal asthma during pregnancy on perinatal outcomes, such as preterm birth, low-birth-weight (LBW) infant and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant. Also, scientific evidence is scarce regarding the impact of asthma severity and control during pregnancy on these perinatal outcomes. […] According to our results, all asthmatic women even those with adequately controlled asthma should be closely monitored during pregnancy because they are at increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. » (p. v-vi)