Assessment of Prevalence, Risk Factors, Treatment in Asthamatic Patients in a South Indian Hospital

Asthma creates a substantial burden on individuals and families as it is more often under-diagnosed and under-treated. India has an estimated 15-20 million asthmatics. Recognizing the signs and symptoms of asthma is important so that treatment and other interventions can begin early. Prospective observational study was conducted in the department of general medicine, RIMS, Kadapa for the period of 6 months aimed to assess the prevalence, risk factors and treatment in asthmatic patients. Patients were enrolled into the study on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 122 asthma diagnosed patients were recruited under the inclusion criteria. Our study establishes that the prevalence of bronchial asthma was more in males 79 (64.75%) than in females 43 (35.25 %). The prevalence rate of our study was 20.71 %. Our study found that most patients (35.25%) are using multiple drug therapy, followed by triple combination therapy (33.61%). Our study concluded that the asthma has low incidence and prevalence rate among the total respiratory diseases patients admitted in the hospital with the most predominant risk factors as dust, smoke and climate variation. Most patients have used multiple drug therapy for treatment due to severity of disease.