Abstract
Introduction: Asthma is considered to be one of the major public health problems. The accurate knowledge of caregiver on asthma is important for the management. Objectives: To describe the knowledge on primary and secondary prevention of asthma among caregivers of asthmatic children admitted to the paediatric wards in the district of Gampaha Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 577 caregivers of inward asthmatic children. Pre-tested interviewer- and self-administered questionnaires were used to assess the knowledge on asthma. The grand score of knowledge on asthma was calculated out of 34. The 75th percentile value was considered to differentiate ‘good’ knowledge from ‘poor’ knowledge. Multiple logistic regression was applied to determine the factors associated with poor knowledge on asthma. Results were expressed in adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The mean score for knowledge on asthma was 20.6 (SD=4.42) ranging from 7 to 30. Among the caregivers, 369 (64%) had poor knowledge on asthma. Low educational level of the caregiver (aOR=2.48; 95% CI=1.59, 3.86) and being under prophylaxis treatment for less than one year (aOR=2.49; 95% CI=1.50, 4.13) were the determinants of poor knowledge on asthma. Conclusions: Majority of the caregivers’ knowledge on asthma was poor. The caregivers’ low educational level and shorter duration of prophylaxis treatment for the children were associated with poor knowledge on asthma.
Highlights
Asthma is considered to be one of the major public health problems
The caregivers’ low educational level and shorter duration of prophylaxis treatment for the children were associated with poor knowledge on asthma
A total of 149 (25.8%) caregivers were recruited from Colombo North Teaching Hospital Ragama (CNTH), 148 (25.6%) from Base Hospital Wathupitiwala (BHW), 142 (24.6%) from District General Hospital Negombo (DGHN) and 138 (23.9%) from District General Hospital Gampaha (DGHG)
Summary
Asthma is considered to be one of the major public health problems. Asthma is considered to be one of the major public health problems in the country and Sri Lanka is identified as one of the highest prevalent countries with asthma [1]. Disease of the respiratory tract is the second commonest cause for hospital admissions in the country [2]. Asthma cannot be cured, high quality management can control the disease and facilitate children to gain good quality of life. One of the programme objectives of the World Health Organization for prevention and control of asthma is ‘primary prevention to reduce the level of exposure to common risk factors, tobacco smoke, frequent lower respiratory infections during childhood and air pollution (indoor, outdoor, and occupational exposure)’ [3]
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