Children with uncontrolled asthma have high risk of poor health outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess asthma control and care in primary school children with reported asthma. A total of 6441 primary school children were first screened for parent-reported physician-diagnosed asthma and 448 (8.9%) children were reported to have asthma. Of these, 311 (69.4%) parents
agreed to participate in assessment of asthma control study using Global Initiative for Asthma
2009 guidelines. Only 161 (51.8%) children were found to have good asthma control, 99 (31.8%) had partly controlled asthma, and 51 (16.4%) had uncontrolled asthma in the past one week. In the past 1 year, 157 (50.5%) children had asthma exacerbations, 21 (6.8%) had hospitalizations, and 104 (33.4%) had received emergency asthma care. Only 108 (34.7%) asthmatic children received regular follow-up care. Controller medications were underutilized (12.2%) compared to reliever medications (35.0%). Asthma control among primary school children was poor indicating suboptimal care.
Keywords: asthma, control, exacerbation, management, school childrenStudy site: primary schools, Port Dickson District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
Matched MeSH terms: Emergency Medical Services/utilization