Epidemiology of Wheezes and Diagnosed Asthma among School Children Aged 12-17 Years in Three States of Sudan 2016

Background: There is a dearth of recent information on wheezes and Asthma in Sudan. Asthma is a non-communicable disease that affected more than 300 million persons in 2014 and contributes to more than 15 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of wheezes and asthmatic school children in the three states of Sudan.

Materials and Methods: Three states of Sudan were selected for field training of the fifth year medical students as part of the curriculum. A two-stage sampling procedure was carried out. Seventeen rural areas were randomly selected from the three states as the first stage. Thereafter; two primary schools were selected from each area randomly, one for girls and one for boys. The eligible study population was children at 7th and 8th grades of primary schools. A mini adapted questionnaire from the international study of asthma and allergies in children (ISAAC) was used to collect the data.

Results: A total of 1598 school children aged 12-17 years were enrolled in the study. Males children were 162(46.4%) and females were 187(53.6%).Freelancers fathers of children accounted for 259(74.2%) and housewives mothers were 270 (77.4%). Literate fathers and mothers were 1468(92%) and 1377(86%) respectively Children experienced an episode of wheezes during the last 12 months prior to the study were 349(21.8%). School children diagnosed asthmatic prior to the study were 199 (57%) among children suffered from wheezing episodes and the prevalence of diagnosed asthmatic in total study children in the three states was 12.5%. Two hundred children (57.3%) had experienced sleep disturbance among children with wheezing episodes. The difficulty of breath while playing was experienced by 211(60.7%) children. Children experienced difficulties during the speech were 183(52.7%). Those who had a cough without flu or chest infection were 211(60.7%). Presence of smokers and trees in the households of the children were significantly associated with wheezing episodes.

Conclusions: The prevalence of wheezes and Asthma among school children is high in rural Sudan. Smoking and trees were significantly associated with wheezing episodes. Health policy at the state level should include the control of asthma and raise the population awareness