Abstract:Abstract:Background: Acute exacerbation is a major cause of morbidity in asthmatic children. It can occur even in well controlled asthma. Aim: To determine the prevalence and pattern of acute exacerbation of asthma in children seen at the emergency room of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu.
Materials and methods:This was a descriptive, cross sectional study in which consecutive children with acute exacerbation of asthma presenting to the Children Emergency Room (CHER) of UNTH, Enugu wer… Show more
“…Nearly a three-quarter of our patients were admitted for ≤12 h probably due to most cases being mild asthma exacerbation. This is similar to the 74.6% of mild to moderate cases admitted for such short duration in another study from Nigeria ( Edelu et al, 2016 ). The short duration of admission by most of the patients may be a pointer to the efficiency of appropriate management plan instituted in all cases.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 89%
“…None of the patients presented with severe asthma exacerbations. This finding is surprising given the high rates reported in local and international studies ( Edelu et al, 2016 ; Dondi et al, 2017 ). A plausible explanation for this finding is that nearly all the patients were registered old patients of UDUTH; the only tertiary public hospital in the entire Sokoto State that runs a pediatric Pulmonology clinic.…”
Background
Adequate management of childhood acute asthma exacerbation requires optimal non-pharmacotherapy and pharmacotherapy. Global asthma guidelines provide critical information and serves as a quick reference decision-support material for clinicians.
Objectives
We aimed at evaluating hospital management of childhood acute asthma exacerbation to ascertain its conformity to the global treatment guidelines, and to identify factors that predict short or prolonged observation in the hospital.
Method
This was a retrospective audit of the management of acute asthma exacerbation in children seen between 01 January 2017 and 31 December 2018 at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, Nigeria. Relevant data on demography, asthma triggers and severity, functional and clinical diagnoses, types of controller medications used before and after presentation, non-pharmacotherapy and pharmacotherapy instituted during presentation, duration of observation in the hospital, and treatment outcomes were extracted from the case file of each eligible patient.
Results
A total of 119 children presented with features of suspected acute asthma exacerbations during the study period but only 63 (52.9%) that met the inclusion criteria for the study were included for analysis. The 63 children that were evaluated had mild (47; 74.6%) and moderate (16; 25.4%) acute asthma exacerbations. Their median (interquartile range) age was 8 (5–15) years. More males (36; 57.1%) than females (27; 42.9%) presented with features of the condition. Majority (50; 79.8%) of the patients had at least one trigger factor and of the 73 trigger factors reported, cold weather (19; 26.0%) was the commonest. Nebulized salbutamol (48; 76.5%), in addition to intravenous (23; 57.9%) and oral (17; 42.5%) corticosteroids, was used during hospital treatment. Patients were discharged mostly on short course of oral corticosteroid only (37; 58.8%). Of the 17 major recommendations in the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines, good (5; 29.4%), moderate (7; 41.2%), and poor (5; 29.4%) levels of adherence were observed. Specifically, moderate and poor levels of adherence were observed in the management of 61(96.8%) and 2(3.2%) patients, respectively. The odds of admission for ≤12 h were higher for female children and patients with mild cases.
Conclusion
Good and moderate adherence levels to 12 of the 17 GINA recommendations were observed in our center. Nonetheless, reinforcement of institutional guidelines for acute asthma management is suggested to further improve the quality of care of childhood acute asthma exacerbations.
“…Nearly a three-quarter of our patients were admitted for ≤12 h probably due to most cases being mild asthma exacerbation. This is similar to the 74.6% of mild to moderate cases admitted for such short duration in another study from Nigeria ( Edelu et al, 2016 ). The short duration of admission by most of the patients may be a pointer to the efficiency of appropriate management plan instituted in all cases.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 89%
“…None of the patients presented with severe asthma exacerbations. This finding is surprising given the high rates reported in local and international studies ( Edelu et al, 2016 ; Dondi et al, 2017 ). A plausible explanation for this finding is that nearly all the patients were registered old patients of UDUTH; the only tertiary public hospital in the entire Sokoto State that runs a pediatric Pulmonology clinic.…”
Background
Adequate management of childhood acute asthma exacerbation requires optimal non-pharmacotherapy and pharmacotherapy. Global asthma guidelines provide critical information and serves as a quick reference decision-support material for clinicians.
Objectives
We aimed at evaluating hospital management of childhood acute asthma exacerbation to ascertain its conformity to the global treatment guidelines, and to identify factors that predict short or prolonged observation in the hospital.
Method
This was a retrospective audit of the management of acute asthma exacerbation in children seen between 01 January 2017 and 31 December 2018 at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, Nigeria. Relevant data on demography, asthma triggers and severity, functional and clinical diagnoses, types of controller medications used before and after presentation, non-pharmacotherapy and pharmacotherapy instituted during presentation, duration of observation in the hospital, and treatment outcomes were extracted from the case file of each eligible patient.
Results
A total of 119 children presented with features of suspected acute asthma exacerbations during the study period but only 63 (52.9%) that met the inclusion criteria for the study were included for analysis. The 63 children that were evaluated had mild (47; 74.6%) and moderate (16; 25.4%) acute asthma exacerbations. Their median (interquartile range) age was 8 (5–15) years. More males (36; 57.1%) than females (27; 42.9%) presented with features of the condition. Majority (50; 79.8%) of the patients had at least one trigger factor and of the 73 trigger factors reported, cold weather (19; 26.0%) was the commonest. Nebulized salbutamol (48; 76.5%), in addition to intravenous (23; 57.9%) and oral (17; 42.5%) corticosteroids, was used during hospital treatment. Patients were discharged mostly on short course of oral corticosteroid only (37; 58.8%). Of the 17 major recommendations in the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines, good (5; 29.4%), moderate (7; 41.2%), and poor (5; 29.4%) levels of adherence were observed. Specifically, moderate and poor levels of adherence were observed in the management of 61(96.8%) and 2(3.2%) patients, respectively. The odds of admission for ≤12 h were higher for female children and patients with mild cases.
Conclusion
Good and moderate adherence levels to 12 of the 17 GINA recommendations were observed in our center. Nonetheless, reinforcement of institutional guidelines for acute asthma management is suggested to further improve the quality of care of childhood acute asthma exacerbations.
“…Reported studies on exacerbations of childhood bronchial asthma in Nigeria showed that it may be responsible for about 2.9% to 6.5% of admissions into Children Emergency Units. [42,43] There were also reported peaks of exacerbations during the rainy seasons. [42,43] Unfortunately, the levels of knowledge of health care providers in the management of asthma exacerbation appears grossly suboptimal.…”
Section: Acute Asthmatic Exacerbations In Nigerian Childrenmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…[42,43] There were also reported peaks of exacerbations during the rainy seasons. [42,43] Unfortunately, the levels of knowledge of health care providers in the management of asthma exacerbation appears grossly suboptimal. [44] Fawibe, et al, [44] in a survey of the mode of management of asthma exacerbation among Nigerian doctors in private practice, observed that majority (83.6%) were not aware of any guideline, both local and global, hence there was the frequent use of "aberrant drugs" such as antibiotics, mucolytic agents and antihistamines in their treatment schedules.…”
Section: Acute Asthmatic Exacerbations In Nigerian Childrenmentioning
Bronchial asthma care professionals all over the world are faced with many challenges in managing children with asthma. This narrative review highlights the burden and specific challenges encountered by Nigerian health care professionals in the care of children with bronchial asthma and attempts to suggest ways of overcoming some of these challenges for optimal bronchial asthma care.
Electronic search of relevant published articles from year 2000 to date was carried out using appropriate search engines for the following search words and phrases: “asthma in Nigerian children”, “childhood asthma in Nigeria”, “burden of asthma”, “challenges,” “prevalence” and “cost of bronchial asthma care.”
The findings revealed that childhood bronchial asthma was reported in all the geo-political zones of the country with evidence of increasing prevalence and male preponderance. Higher prevalence rates were reported in urban settings compared to rural settings and intermittent asthma was the most frequently reported form of the disease in Nigeria. Allergic rhinitis, with or without conjunctivitis were the most common co-morbidities, while respiratory tract infections, exposure to dust and physical exercise were the common triggers. Bronchial asthma was reported to affect school attendance, family finances and the quality of life of children and their caregivers.
Reported challenges of childhood bronchial asthma in Nigeria included ignorance, poverty, stigma and poor adherence to medications by affected children and caregivers; inadequate work force and suboptimal knowledge of various cadres of health workers and poor health system as well as little or no availability of standard asthma care facilities at all levels of health care in Nigeria.
Awareness creation, routine training and re-training of all cadres of health workers, provision of basic asthma care facilities and revamping of the health system may assist in overcoming the challenges.
“…Asthma itself is a public health concern, being a major cause of infirmity, depletes scarce health resources and reduces quality of life of affected individuals. With its predisposition to dental caries formation in the affected individuals, the burden becomes more profound especially in developing countries like Nigeria, where health costs are largely borne by the individual patient [4,5].…”
Background: Asthma and dental caries are two most common chronic diseases among children. The aim
of the present study was to determine and compare the dental caries experience between asthmatic and nonasthmatic children in Enugu.
Methods: 120 asthmatic children who had been diagnosed of asthma for at least 1 year were selected and
matched for age 2-17 years with 120 non-asthmatic controls. Prevalence of caries was assessed using the
decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (dfs for deciduous teeth and DMFS for permanent teeth) index through
clinical examination by two calibrated dentists according to WHO guidelines. Information on various
confounding factors were collected through questionnaires and patients’ medical records.
Results: Asthmatic children had significantly higher (P<0.000) caries experience on primary teeth (dfs was
2.02±0.18 for 2-6 years-old and dfs was 2.46±0.68 for 7-12 years-old) and permanent teeth (DMFS was
1.86±1.12 for 7-12 years-old and DMFS is 1.84±1.22 for 13-17 years-old). Asthmatic children did not differ
significantly from their non-asthmatic counterparts with respect to gender, dietary habits, oral hygiene, time
since last dental visit and parents’ education.
Conclusion: Children with asthma have higher caries experience than their non-asthmatic counterparts in
this study. Reasons for this difference are multifactorial necessitating the need for special multidisciplinary
oral health preventive program for these high-caries-risk children.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.