ASTHMA SEVERITY AND SELF-CARE PRACTICES AMONG ASTHMA PATIENTS IN RWANDA

KABANYANA PAULINE; MUNYEMANA JEAN BOSCO; NIKUZE BELLANCILLE; KANTARAMA EVELYNE; MUVUNYI MAMBO CLAUDE

doi:10.22159/ijms.2021.v9i4.40840

Authors

KABANYANA PAULINE Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
MUNYEMANA JEAN BOSCO Department of Clinical Biology, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
NIKUZE BELLANCILLE Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
KANTARAMA EVELYNE Department of Clinical Biology, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
MUVUNYI MAMBO CLAUDE Department of Clinical Biology, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22159/ijms.2021.v9i4.40840

Keywords:

Asthma severity, self-care practice, asthma patients

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate asthma severity levels and self-care practices in asthma patients in Rwanda.

Methods: In this study, we have used a quantitative cross-sectional study design. The questionnaires were distributed to asthma patients who voluntarily accepted to participate in the study. The obtained information were recorded in Excel sheet and transferred to SPSS version 22 for statistical analysis. Asthma severity levels in study participants were categorized referring to Global Initiative for Asthma classification scheme. Moreover, the levels of self-care practices were classified into three categories (Good, Moderate and Poor self-care practices) depending on participant’s behavior regarding asthma self-management. The association between asthma severity and self-care practices was determined using Chi-square test.

Results: The findings showed that: 52 (65%) had persistent mild asthma, 12 (15%) had persistent moderate, 6 (7.5%) had intermittent, and 5 (6.3%) had persistent severe. In addition to that, among study participants, 45 (56.3%) had moderate self-care practices while 27 (33.8%) had good self-care practices and 2 (2.5%) had poor self-care practices. Furthermore, two self-care practices including avoiding pollen exposure and drinking alcohol exhibited an association with asthma severity (p=0.03) and (p=0.045), respectively.

Conclusion: There is an association between asthma severity and self-care practices and our study findings suggest enhanced patient’s self-care practices to contribute in reducing asthma exacerbation.

References

Silkoff PE, Strambu I, Laviolette M, Singh D, FitzGerald JM, Lam S, et al. Asthma characteristics and biomarkers from the airways disease endotyping for personalized therapeutics (ADEPT) longitudinal profiling study. Respir Res 2015;16:142.

Collaborators GBDCRD. Global, regional, and national deaths, prevalence, disability-adjusted life years, and years lived with disability for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, 1990-2015: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2015. Lancet Respir Med 2017;5:691-706.

Obel KB, Ntumba KJ, Kalambayi KP, Zalagile AP, Kinkodi KD, Munogolo KZ. Prevalence and determinants of asthma in adults in Kinshasa. PLoS One 2017;12:e0176875.

Chastek B, Korrer S, Nagar SP, Albers F, Yancey S, Ortega H, et al. Economic burden of illness among patients with severe asthma in a managed care setting. J Manage Care Spec Pharm 2016;22:848-61.

Poowuttikul P, Hart B, Thomas R, Secord E. Poor adherence with medication refill and medical supplies maintenance as risk factors for inpatient asthma admission in children. Glob Pediatr Health 2017;4:2333794.

Bateman ED, Hurd SS, Barnes PJ, Bousquet J, Drazen JM, FitzGerald JM, et al. Global strategy for asthma management and prevention: GINA executive summary. Eur Respir J 2008;31:143-78.

Donner CF, Visconti A. AIMAR survey on complex forms of bronchial asthma and COPD, their management and perception of critical issues. Multidiscip Respir Med 2014;9:52.

Stubbs MA, Clark VL, McDonald VM. Living well with severe asthma. Breathe 2019;15:e40-9.

Yu TH, Fu PK, Tung YC. Using medication utilization information to develop an asthma severity classification model. BMC Med Inform Dec Making 2017;17:177.

Habineza H, Mutumbira C, Hedt-Gauthier BL, Borg R, Gupta N, Tapela N, et al. Treating persistent asthma in rural Rwanda: Characteristics, management and 24-month outcomes. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2017;21:1176-82.

Price D, David-Wang A, Cho SH, Ho JC, Jeong JW, Liam CK, et al. Time for a new language for asthma control: Results from REALISE Asia. J Asthma Allergy 2015;8:93-103.

Price D, Fletcher M, van der Molen T. Asthma control and management in 8,000 European patients: The recognise asthma and link to symptoms and experience (REALISE) survey. NPJ Prim Care Respir Med 2014;24:14009.

Apter AJ, Morales KH, Han X, Perez L, Huang J, Ndicu G, et al. A patient advocate to facilitate access and improve communication, care, and outcomes in adults with moderate or severe asthma: Rationale, design, and methods of a randomized controlled trial. Contemp Clin Trials 2017;56:34-45.

van Boven FE, Arends LR, Braunstahl GJ, van Wijk RG. A reintroduction of environmental mite allergen control strategies for asthma treatment and the debate on their effectiveness. Clin Exp Allergy 2019;49:400-9.

Yawn BP, Wollan PC, Rank MA, Bertram SL, Juhn Y, Pace W. Use of asthma APGAR tools in primary care practices: A cluster-randomized controlled trial. Ann Fam Med 2018;16:100-10.

To T, Daly C, Feldman R, McLimont S. Results from a community-based program evaluating the effect of changing smoking status on asthma symptom control. BMC Public Health 2012;12:293.

Ritz T, Wittchen HU, Klotsche J, Muhlig S, Riedel O; sap-NEEDs study group. Asthma Trigger Reports Are Associated with Low Quality of Life, Exacerbations, and Emergency Treatments. Ann Am Thorac Soc 2016;13:204-11.

Arvers P. Alcohol consumption and lung damage: Dangerous relationships. Rev Mal Respir 2018;351039-49.