Factors Related Asthma Exacerbations of Asthmatic Patients in Surat Thani Province

Abstract

This cross-sectional descriptive research aimed to identify factors related to asthma exacerbations among asthmatic patients. The 400 asthmas in Surat Thani province were selected by purposive sampling. Inclusion criteria were (1) an asthmatic patient diagnosed by a physician with asthma for at least 1 year, and (2) aged 18 years and over. Exclusion criteria included (1) having comorbidity affecting the respiratory system, (2) psychiatric disorder, and (3) pregnancy or undergoing surgery. The tool was an interview form which had content validity of 0.80–1 and reliability of 0.79. Data collection was carried out between May and August 2020. Chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship between variables. The results show that the proportion of asthmatic patients was equal in males and females (49.20%, 50.80%), 28.75% were aged between 21-30 years, 50.00% were married, 35.75% were relatives of family role, 28.25% had secondary education level and 28.00% had no education, 41.00% were occupation related to animals/health workers/plastic factory workers/working on bread flour, 29.00% had income between 8,001–12,000 baht. 39.75% of asthmatic patients had severe asthma exacerbation levels. The relationship analysis revealed that family roles, educational levels, history of asthma exacerbations risk, and at-risk health conditions were statistically associated with the level of asthma exacerbations (p-value<0.001). In conclusion the asthmatic patients had severe asthma exacerbation levels. Key factors that affect asthma exacerbations were family role, education level, history of asthma exacerbations risk and at-risk health conditions. Therefore, asthmatic patients should be encouraged to have sufficient knowledge for controlling asthma.