Publication:

The language of wheezing children: a study of symptoms described by parents

Background Respiratory disorders are a leading cause of pediatric hospital admissions. Parental understanding of respiratory sounds, particularly the term "wheeze," is critical for accurate symptom reporting, asthma diagnosis and epidemiological research. In multilingual countries such as India, linguistic diversity may significantly affect how parents perceive and describe such symptoms.

Methods A single-centre cross-sectional observational study was conducted over 12 months (March 2023-March 2024) enrolling 160 children aged 1 month to 12 years with paediatrician-confirmed wheeze. Parents completed a structured multilingual questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test.

Results Only 9.4% of parents recognized the term "wheeze." The most common sound descriptors were "Khad-Khad" (48.8%) and "Ghar-Ghar" (41.9%). Cough (39.4%) and visual chest movement changes (27.5%) were the predominant identifying cues. Parental awareness was significantly associated with educational status (p=0.001), family history of asthma (p=0.0077), past wheezing history (p=0.0138), and physician-diagnosed asthma (p=0.0086).

Conclusions Parental awareness of the term "wheeze" is poor in multilingual Indian populations. Clinicians should employ culturally adapted, symptom-focused history-taking to improve diagnostic accuracy in pediatric respiratory illness.