Prevalence of bronchial asthma and its associated factors among school children in urban Puducherry, India

Abstract

Background:Bronchial asthma is an important public health problem at the global level. There is paucity of studies on bronchial asthma among school children in Urban India.Objective:To assess the prevalence and associated factors of bronchial asthma among school children.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among 263 children studying in the 8th, 9th, and 10th standard using the modified International Study on Allergy and Asthma in Childhood questionnaire in Urban Puducherry. Data on associated factors that include family history of asthma, type of fuel used for cooking, placement of kitchen in the house, number of windows in sleeping room, pet animals, smoking among family members, birth order, and smoke outlet were collected. Data were analyzed by univariate analysis and expressed in proportion or percentages.Results:Prevalence of ever bronchial asthma was found to be 5.3%, of which 4.2% had current episode of asthma during the last 1-year period. About 72.7% of the current asthmatics had cold or rhinitis and 54.5% each had itching or rashes and nocturnal dry cough. Prevalence is more among the 12-13 years age group (6.5%) compared to the 14-16 years age group (3.6%). Boys (5.4%) and girls (5.2%) had comparable prevalence rates. The prevalence was significantly more among those with a family history of asthma, having smoking habits in any of the family members, and the absence of smoke outlet in the house (P < 0.05).Conclusion:Bronchial asthma is an important health problem among children in urban Puducherry. Intervention on exposure to passive smoking and provision of smoke outlets may help to reduce the burden of disease at the community level.

Study of Prevalence and Risk Factors of Bronchial Asthma in School Children in Urban and Rural Areas of Kakinada

“…8 A study conducted by Matthew et al 9 in Coimbatore in 2012 showed that prevalence of asthma in 11-15 years was 7.27%. A study conducted by Kumar et al 10 in Pudhucherry in 2014 showed that prevalence of asthma in 12-16 years was 5.23%. Our data is comparable to those studies and has confirmed the notion that the prevalence of asthma is higher in children in south India than previously thought.…”

“…6,11 Exposure to passive tobacco smoke was shown to be an important risk factor in our study and various other studies. 10,11 Exposure to passive smoke has a number of severe effects on control and severity. Therefore, smoking cessation by parents or relatives would benefit their child's health status.…”

Prevalence of Asthma in School going Children of Semi-Urban Area in the State of Madhya Pradesh

“…Questionnaire was based on that used by International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISSAC). 22 The final questionnaire was a modified version of this questionnaire with addition of questions related to environmental, lifestyle factors and questions regarding severity of asthma based on relevant literature search. The developed questionnaire was translated into local language (Hindi) and pilot tested on a sample of school children.…”

Risk and Triggering Factors Associated with Bronchial Asthma Among School-Going Children in an Urban City of Coastal Karnataka

“…Various studies have documented risk factors association with occurrence of asthma in school going children. 2,3,4,5 Asthma exacerbations by specifi c trigger factors are a well-known fact and how it affects their quality of life have been studied by Luskin AT et al 6 . Asthma exacerbations by asthma trigger factors have been documented by few studies 7,8,9,10,11 .…”