A Survey on Knowledge and Management of Childhood Asthma

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic disease with both inflammatory and blocked or narrowed airways. It is a common disease in children. We conducted a study to assess the management and knowledge of asthma symptoms, attack and medication, compliance to treatment, emergency department visits and causes of asthma. Data were collected from 210 pediatric patients who had asthma. This study was done in different hospitals of Dhaka city. A questionnaire was given them to test their baseline knowledge and beliefs on asthma, medications and their compliance to treatment. The result showed that among 210 children, most of the children (38%) had asthma in the age range of 6-10 years. Most of the patients (42.85%) had mild intermittent asthma. Moreover, most asthma symptoms occurred in winter season (53.80%) and summer season (32.87%). About 51% patients had difficulty to sleep due to asthma. Approximately 37.14% patients took professional routine check-ups, and 36.19% patients took emergency treatment by doctor in the last 12 month. About 61.43% respondents had knowledge about sign identification given by professional. According to the respondents, the symptoms responsible for causing asthma were allergy (77.62%), air pollution (65.72%), common cold (88.09%) and certain food (72.85%). Only 21.43% patients had exhaust fan in their home and used regularly when cooking, about 45.71% patients had wood burning stove used in home. About 52.86% patients used a prescription inhaler, 71.9% long-acting β2 agonist, 55.7% leukotriene modifier, 36.6% corticosteroids, 31.43% mast cell stabilizer, 41.9% expectorant, 75% antitussives, 33% mucolytics were prescribed. Asthma education strategies need to be modified to engage patients with low asthma knowledge to achieve improved patient outcomes. Further, strategies need to motivate patients to use preventer medication during times when they feel well.