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Volume 27, Issue 133, March 2023

Awareness of asthmatic patients to the association between the environmental risk factors and asthma exacerbation in Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia

Sami M Alrasheedi¹, Mousa N Alrashdi¹, Ahmad Alkhdairi¹, Hanee Mateg Alrashidi², Abdullah Alrasheedi³, Emad Bani Alharbi⁴, Faisal Abdulaziz Almutairi⁵, Khalid Saad Alrashdi⁴, Farah Saleh Allabun⁶, Ghada Abdullah Aljutaily⁶

¹Department of Medicine, Unaizah College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Unaizah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
²College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah, Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
³Department of Medicine, Buraydah Central Hospital, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
⁴Department of Medicine, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraydah, Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
⁵Bukayriyah General Hospital, Bukayriyah, Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
⁶Unaizah College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Unaizah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Asthma is the chronic airway inflammatory illness that exhibits substantial etiological, clinical and historical heterogeneity. Current knowledge of prevalence, aetiology and management is crucial for appropriately managing respiratory allergies. Consequently, the current study's objective was to determine the asthmatic patients in the Al-Qassim region of Saudi Arabia who were aware of environmental risk factors and their link with asthma exacerbations. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the form of a survey. Data was gathered using a semi-structured questionnaire. The information covered sociodemographic traits, knowledge, previous asthma-related medical history and awareness of aggravating factors besides family history. Results: In the current study, we were able to collect data from 106 asthmatic patients, where 67.9 % of them were females. We discovered that 88.7% of the participants who were asthmatic patients were aware that environmental risk factors contribute to asthma exacerbations. Air pollutants (95.3%), respiratory illnesses (90.6%), house dust mites (90.6%) and excess utilization of detergents and other household pesticides (90.6%) were the most well-known environmental risk factors. According to 65.1% of the participants, house dust mites were the main cause of asthma flare-ups. This was followed by respiratory illnesses (62.3%), air pollutants in 59.4% of the participants' reports and excessive detergent use (46.2%). Conclusion: In the Qassim region, we identified that asthmatic patients had good understanding of the environmental aggravation. However, this information is not linked to the frequency of asthma attacks; rather, it was linked to patients' growing propensity to avoid these circumstances.

Keywords: Asthma, risk factor, smoking, infection