Abstract:
Asthma is one of the common chronic respiratory diseases in children worldwide which is more prevalent with urbanization in many low or middle-income countries including Pakistan. In the times of rapid urbanisation and more exposure to environmental pollutants, there is dearth of data regarding region-specific prevalence of asthma, risk factors and possible associated factors in school going children. To estimate the prevalence of asthma among 5-17-year-old school going children in Islamabad, and its associated environmental, genetic and socio-demographic risk factor. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 333 children in the schools of Islamabad who were assessed for asthma. Data was obtained through a structured questionnaire adopted from ISAAC protocol. Asthma was characterized by wheezing and doctor diagnosed disease. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and correlation were conducted in SPSS. The study reveals a noticeable high prevalence of lifetime wheeze, doctor'sdiagnosis of asthma among patients.Significant multivariate predictors of asthma included household smoking, maternal smoking during pregnancy, indoor dampness/mold, excess dust, and living near traffic/industry, exposure to seasonal pollen/dust, having a parental history of asthmaand parental consanguinity. This study showed high association of demographic, environmental and genetic factors with asthma. The findings call for immediate public health interventions focusing on smoke-free homes, improved indoor air quality, pollution control and enhanced awareness and management of asthma in urban Islamabad, Pakistan.
