Abstract
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. It is very common among children and is a major cause for emergency room visits and missed school days. Costa Rica has one of the highestrates of childhood asthma in the world; so it is important for teachers to know how to prevent and treat asthma attacks in the classroom. Since schools in rural Costa Rica had not yet been studied, teachers were sampled from six schools in Venecia and Aguas Zarcas, San Carlos. During March and April 2014, 185 asthma questionnaires were collected.Among these teachers, 51% were aware of asthmatic students in their classes, and 19% recalled witnessing an asthma attack in the classroom. Interest in asthma training was high among 85% of the teachers,and the preferred format was a lecture or workshop. Greater asthma knowledge was significantly related to living with an asthmatic person (p=0,014), but not with being asthmatic, having asthmatic students,witnessing an asthma attack in the classroom, sex, age, education level, or teaching experience. Greater interest in asthma training was related to awareness of asthmatic students (p=0,031), prior experience with an asthma attack in the classroom (p=0,033), and greater asthma knowledge (p=0,022). Primary school teachers were more likely to be aware of asthmatic students in their classes compared to secondary school teachers (p=0,002)
Highlights
RESUMEN: El asma es una enfermedad crónica e inflamatoria muy común entre los niños
51% were aware of asthmatic students in their classes, and 19% recalled witnessing an asthma attack in the classroom
These proportions contrasted with the secondary school teachers, of whom 46% reported asthmatic students, 10% reported no, and 44% did not know (X2=13,05; df 2; p=0,002)
Summary
RESUMEN: El asma es una enfermedad crónica e inflamatoria muy común entre los niños. Es una de las mayores causas de consulta médica y de días escolares perdidos. Mayores conocimientos sobre el asma se relacionaron significativamente con vivir con un asmático (p=0,014), pero no con ser asmático, tener estudiantes asmáticos, haber presenciado una crisis asmática en el aula, sexo, edad, nivel educativo o experiencia como docente. The cost of treating asthma is high, especially because it can lead to one or more ER visits per year. It is the leading cause of missed school days and it can affect a child’s sleep and academics (Kline-Krammes et al, 2013). The recommended immediate therapy for acute asthma attacks is short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) drugs, which rapidly relax bronchial smooth muscles. Barriers to asthma management include low medication compliance, poverty, transportation difficulties, inconvenient clinic hours, limited communication between schools and families, and the lack of written asthma action plans (Toole, 2013)
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