A model to predict short-time asthma morbidity: what could be the explanatory factors?

Abstract

Background: There is an increase in the worldwide prevalence, morbidity and mortality of asthma. Therefore, study of the possible factors related to the burden of this disorder could help the health providers to introduce effective initiatives and reduce adverse consequences due to this condition. This study was designed to investigate any relationship between asthma morbidity with inhaler technique and other probable explanatory factors in asthmatic patients.|
Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was designed in which asthmatic patients referring to the outpatient respiratory clinic of the Shaheed Labbafinezhad hospital were entered the study using a non-probability sampling method. Their demographic, socio-economic, medical and medication history, inhaler technique (using a 10-step check list), as well as short-term morbidity index (in the past 4 weeks using the Jone’s morbidity questionnaire) were determined and recorded in organized data collection forms. These data were entered the Excel and SPSS (version 17.0) worksheets and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. A step-by-step analysis method was used in order to find out any relationship between possible explanatory factors and the morbidity index of the patients.
Results: 199 adult asthmatic patients (94 male and 105 female) with mean ± SD age of 54.29 ± 15.52 years enrolled the study. In the first step of data analysis only 5 factors out of 20 explanatory factors were eligible to be included in the multivariate analysis leading to the final predictive model. In the multivariate regression analysis, 2 out of 5 factors could remain in the final model, which were “history of systemic steroid usage” and “age” (p=0.007, r=0.32). So that, patients with a positive history of systemic steroid use and those with a younger age had higher asthma morbidity rate.
Conclusion: The observed positive relationship between history of systemic steroid usage and asthma morbidity remarks the importance of asthma control in the primary care level and highlights its role on patient’s quality of life. Possible reasons leading to a higher morbidity rate in younger asthmatic patients should be evaluated in the future studies.