Asthma: profile of infant population at the Health Center of Vitória Régia, Sorocaba

Abstract

Introduction: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways that not only constitutes a public health issue, but also compromises the development of children affected by the condition. Its multifactorial origin suggests that the association of certain factors, such as low maternal education, passive smoking, inadequate hygiene and immunization and limited breast-feeding, causes higher asthma incidence. Study design: descriptive study. Aims of the study: to determine the profile and factors associated to the asthmatic children participating in the Asthma Control Program at the Health Center of Vitória Régia, Sorocaba/SP. Methods: Descriptive study conducted with the infant population of the Asthma Control Program, composed of 42 children. Children between 5 and 7 years old were included in the study and, as an exclusion criterion, children whose responsible did not agree to participate in the research. During the period of October 2014 to April 2015 questionnaires were applied to the responsible for the participating minor, after signature of a written informed consent. The collected data were analyzed by multivariate statistics. Results: Results indicated that the participating children are majorly male (66.7%), without history of intrauterine exposure to tobacco(89,7%) or passive smoking (69,2%), and received exclusive breast-feeding (92,3%) until approximately 5 months of age. The majority of children did not present diarrhea or respiratory infections in the first year of life and were not diagnosed with rhinitis and/or eczema. However, we verified that most infants have family history of asthma and/ or atopy. The factorial analysis showed that the first three factors describe 80,71% of the variability of the sample. Statistically, the variables gender, animal presence, rhinitis and/or eczema diagnosis and breastfeeding stand out in the description of the studied population. Conclusions: We concluded that the findings of this study are, in many of the analyzed items, compatible with current literature. Variables such as gender and animal presence were consistent with findings from other studies, even considering the convenience sample. Regarding breastfeeding and its duration, the results contradict some scientific references, reinforcing that conclusions are conflicting in this aspect. Despite many studies that refer a beneficial effect of breastfeeding on the prevention of asthma, this variable was strongly associated to the analyzed sample. The application of a multivariate analysis allowed the identification of the variables most relevant to this group, among the main existing risk factors for asthma