Abstract:
Background: Asthma control is the extent to which the various manifestations
of asthma have been reduced or removed by treatment. In developing
countries including Kenya, many children continue to visit hospitals with
acute symptoms of asthma, which is a pointer to poor control.
Objectives: To determine the level of asthma control and factors associated
with the observed control among children at a national referral hospital.
Design: Cross-sectional study
Setting: Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya paediatric clinics.
Subjects: A total of 166 asthmatic children aged 6-11 years and their
parents/caretakers were enrolled between August 2016 and October 2017.
Main Outcome: Level of control using childhood asthma control test (c-ACT)
Results: The median age of enrolled children was 8.17 years with males being
the majority, 94 (56.6%). Using c-ACT, 92 (55.4%, 95%CI: 47.52, 63.10) had well
controlled asthma at baseline. At univariate analysis, having a medical
insurance cover (p=0.034), dry season (p=0.036), and parental perception of
asthma control (p=0.002) were significantly associated with good control of
asthma. Acceptance that a child had asthma was associated with poor control
of asthma, p=0.046. On multivariate logistic regression, a perception of a well-
controlled child by the parent/caretaker correlated well with good control of
asthma.Conclusion: About half of the children in this set up have good control of
asthma with the observed status of control being affected by parental/caretaker
perception on asthma.
