Objective: To identify the determinants of uncontrolled asthma among asthmatic patients on follow-up at Jimma Medical Center. Methods: Institution-based case-control study was conducted on asthmatic patients who were on follow-up at the chest clinic of Jimma University Medical (JMC) from March to May 2020. A total of 59 cases and 118 controls (1: 2 ratio) were included in the study. Cases and controls were defined based on asthma control test (ACT) scores where those who had scores of ≤19 and above 19 were defined to be cases and controls, respectively.

BackgroundUncontrolled asthma is a notorious public health problem throughout the world despite the presence of effective treatments. Characterizing phenotypes of patients with uncontrolled asthma and searching for risk factors of uncontrolled asthma have been suggested as priority research agenda in the prevention of chronic respiratory diseases. This study aimed to identify the determinants of uncontrolled asthma.MethodsInstitution-based case-control study was conducted on asthmatic patients who were on follow-up at chest clinic of Jimma University Medical (JMC) from March to May, 2020. A total of 59 cases and 118 controls were included in the study. Logistic regression was employed to identify determinants of uncontrolled asthma. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with their corresponding confidence intervals (CI) were used to assess the strengths of association between uncontrolled asthma and its determinants at p values ≤ 0.05.ResultsAge of the patients [AOR: 2.78; 95% CI: 1.14, 6.81], age of the cases’ residential houses [AOR: 3.65; 95% CI: 1.30, 10.28], presence of pets within the houses [AOR: 2.78; 95% CI: 1.29, 5.96], having rhinitis [AOR: 3.34; 95% CI: 1.17, 9.52], past asthma exacerbation [AOR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.05, 5.40], non-adherence to treatment [AOR: 2.81; 95% CI: 1.30, 6.08] and smoking [AOR: 7.09; 95% CI: 1.84, 27.33] were found to be determinants of uncontrolled asthma.ConclusionsUncontrolled asthma is resulted from multiple sociodemographic, environmental, clinical, and behavioral factors. Therefore, interventions targeting to improve asthma control should consider those factors comprehensively.