Evaluation of Asthma Control Assessment in School-Age Asthmatic Children

Abstract

Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children. Some 235 million people worldwide suffer from this non-communicable disease but effective medicines are available that can control it. Asthma is said to be under-estimated and under diagnosed in tropical countries including Sudan. Several tools are useful for detecting uncontrolled asthma in children; however, childhood asthma control test is a validated tool for assessing asthma control in pediatric asthma. A cross sectional study conducted over a period of six months (March 2016- September 2016) covering all school age asthmatic children attending the Asthma Clinic in Ahmed Gassim Children Specialized Hospital and Mohammed Elamin Hamid Pediatric Hospital during the period of study. The aim of this study is to assess asthma control in school age asthmatic children at Khartoum using childhood asthma control test (C- ACT) and peak flow meter (PEFR) and to detect associated factors with impaired asthma control. Result: A total of (84) asthmatics children most of them on prophylactic medications, according to ACT were found to be controlled 35 (41.7%), partially controlled 26 (22.2%) and uncontrolled 27 (32.1%). The main triggers as in other countries are infections, environmental factors and exercise. Conclusion: In this study, we realized that none of the children of study group underwent any PEFR measurement in their asthma follow up and none of them has been assessed with ACT before. There was a high percentage of partially controlled and uncontrolled asthma in the selected group.