Knowledge and Awareness of Childhood Asthma in a Population in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Asthma is one of the most common chronic respiratory disease affecting young children. Parents, care providers and teachers face all the issues of asthma management. Antibiotics became a marker of irrational and overuse of these drugs in many countries which can result from many factors, such as unregulated drug availability, relaxed health policies concerning regulations on antibiotics use, obtaining of antibiotics without prescription, patients’ knowledge and attitudes towards antibiotic use, self-medication, physicians’ knowledge and experiences and patient-prescriber interaction. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬This study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness of childhood asthma, its symptoms, triggers, prevention, management, education and antibiotic use in adults in a population in the UAE. Seven hundred questionnaires were distributed among population in Ras Al-Khaima, UAE. The knowledge about childhood asthma was evaluated using a validated questionnaire consisted of 34 questions. Six hundred and sixty three completed questionnaires were returned making the response rate of 94.7%. The overall mean (+/- SD) of knowledge score was 22.43 (+/- 4.1). A score of 70% and above was judged to be good, 50%-69% fair and <50% was poor. In all, 45.6% of the respondents had good Knowledge towards childhood asthma, 46.5% had fair Knowledge while 8% had poor Knowledge. Regarding the participants knowledge about asthma triggers, our study showed that 57.3% knew the triggers for asthma, 78.4% were knowledgeable about the fact that infectious respiratory diseases increase the chances of asthma progression, 88.4% correctly answered that exposures to sudden changes in environment ( dust or cold weather ) affect the progression of asthma, 88.8% believed that direct or indirect exposure to cigarette smoke could lead to acute attacks of asthma and 85.4% recognized that exposure to perfumes , incense or paint fumes could lead to acute asthma attack. The childhood asthma knowledge among Ras Al-Khaima population is quiet good which may indicate that the important role that has been taken by Ministry of Health in educational programmes. The population age group above 30 years old had lack of asthma knowledge which is important to improve their awareness about childhood asthma because it enhances their understanding of this disease which will reflect on people who interact with children in order to recognize asthma. Future educational efforts should seek to provide parents, care providers and teachers with accurate information about asthma with particular concern for sport and asthma. This will have a significant impact on the management of this chronic respiratory disorder. Educational campaigns are necessary to enhance and measure general public awareness of asthma, its differential diagnosis against other respiratory infections, environmental triggers, risk factors as well as treatment options. Keywords: asthma, knowledge, awareness, education, communication