ASTHMATIC CHILDREN;

Objective: To determine the knowledge and practice of parents of children withAsthma. Introduction: Asthma is a disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessnessand wheezing typically begins in early childhood with an earlier onset in males than females. Lifetime prevalence of asthma is 13.5% and current asthma prevalence of 9.3% among children <18years. According to WHO 15 million disability adjusted life years (DALY) are lost annually due toAsthma. Prevalence of asthma in Pakistani children is 19%. Due to rapid industrialization andurbanization prevalence of Asthma has increased from 9 t0 20% during the last decade. Thisstudy was conducted to assess the extent of knowledge and practice which are associated withthe control of Asthma. Methodology: It was descriptive cross sectional study conducted in ED,Pediatric unit CHK. Sampling was convenience and the study duration six months. One hundredand twenty parents of asthmatic children from 4-13 years of age were selected. Results: Averageage of the children was 7.69±2.58 years (95% CI: 7.23 to 8.16) and average duration of illnesswas 3.08±2.0 years (95% CI: 2.69 to 3.45). Minimum duration was two years and maximum tenyears. One hundred and four mothers (86.7%) and 16 fathers(13.3%) participated in the study.Over all asthma knowledge and practice of parents was adequate in 20(16.7%), inadequate in46(39.3%) and average in 54(45%). Conclusions: Asthma knowledge especially about themanagement is inadequate and practices are also inappropriate in the urban population ofKarachi.