OBJECTIVE: Accurate perception of asthma episodes increases the likelihood that they will be managed effectively. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of feedback in a signal detection task on perception of increased airflow obstruction in children with persistent asthma. METHODS: The effect of feedback training on the perception of resistive loads was evaluated in 155 children with persistent asthma between 8 and 15 years of age. Each child participated in four experimental sessions that occurred approximately once every 2 weeks, an initial session followed by three training sessions. During the initial session, the threshold resistance to breathing was determined for each child. Subsequently, each child was randomly assigned to one of two resistive load training conditions in a signal detection paradigm: training with immediate performance feedback or training with no performance feedback. RESULTS: The threshold resistance to breathing, determined in the initial session, was equivalent between groups. Children in the feedback condition discriminated more accurately between both the presence and the absence of increases in the resistance to breathing (206 (48) versus 180 (39) correct responses, p < 0.001), and differences over time between groups increased reliably as a function of training (165 (40) versus 145 (32) correct responses, p < 0.001). Response times and confidence ratings were equivalent between groups, and no differences in breathing patterns were observed between conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Feedback training results in improved perception of respiratory sensations in children with asthma, a finding with implications for strategies of asthma self-management.

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