Asthma control in pediatric patients at Taleghani Hospital, Gorgan, Iran

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children and its prevalence has increased in the last three decades, so making the proper control of asthma is of great importance. The aim of this study was to evaluate asthma control in children in Gorgan, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, 80 asthma patients in Taleghani Hospital, Gorgan, Iran (2019-2020) were studied in two groups; one controlled (n=46) and another one uncontrolled (n=34). The age range of the patients was 5-15 years. Data with a diagnosis of asthma were extracted from the medical records. The asthma control test (ACT) questionnaire was used to assess asthma control. A checklist was also prepared for this purpose.

Among the uncontrolled patients, 14 (31.10%) were female and 20 (57.10%) were male. A significant relationship was found between gender and disease control (P=0.02). Moreover, a positive association was found between asthma control and parents’ asthma history (P=0.03 for father and P=0.05 for mother/father). The duration of asthma showed no significant differences between the controlled and uncontrolled groups. Disease severity also had a positive effect on poor asthma control (P=0.001), resulting in 52.90% of patients in the uncontrolled group having severe asthma.

The uncontrolled asthma seemed to be present in less than 50% of asthmatic children. Gender, parental history, and severity of asthma revealed a positive association with asthma control. The results could be useful to further overcome the problems of asthma control.