A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of Illness Perception About Asthma Among Asthma Patients at a Referral Tertiary Care Public Chest Hospital in Delhi, India

A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of Illness Perception About Asthma Among Asthma Patients at a Referral Tertiary Care Public Chest Hospital in Delhi, India

Sushil Shendge (University of Delhi, India), Barnali Deka (University of Delhi, India) and Anita Kotwani (University of Delhi, India)
Copyright: © 2012 |Pages: 12
DOI: 10.4018/ijudh.2012070104

Abstract

Adult patients visiting emergency room (March 2009-December 2009) of the public chest hospital for asthma exacerbation completed interviewer-administered questionnaires on sociodemographics, clinical history, disease beliefs, use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), and self-management of asthma after stabilization of their condition. Overall 87% patients believed that they had asthma when they are having symptoms, which is called as no symptoms, no asthma belief. No association was found between no symptoms, no asthma belief with gender, income, family history of asthma, and co-morbidity. Younger patients in the age group 18-29 years had four to five-fold greater odds and patients with education above 10th grade had three to four-fold greater odds of having the no symptoms, no asthma belief or the acute episodic belief. Acute episodic belief was negatively associated with beliefs about always having asthma, asthma being a serious condition, having lung inflammation, or the importance of using ICS, and was positively associated with expecting to be cured. All patients irrespective of their belief of acute or chronic nature of asthma had poor adherence to the treatment and other self-management behaviors.
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Material And Methods

Study Design and Study Population

This cross-sectional questionnaire based study was carried out in a referral chest public hospital of Delhi. Patients attending the emergency room (ER) for treatment of their acute attack were enrolled for the study. After the patients were clinically stable, were asked to participate in the study. Patients, 18-60 years of age, previously diagnosed of persistent asthma with spirometry, having at least one prescription of inhaled corticosteroids and registered as out-patient in the study hospital for at least one year were included in the study. Non-cooperative patients were excluded from the study. The protocol of the study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Patients were enrolled after obtaining written informed consent.

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