Assessment of socioeconomic status and control of asthma in adults

Abstract

Background: Asthma is a chronic disease which places considerable economic, social and public health burdens on the society. Education, occupation and income are the most widely used indicators of socioeconomic status (SES). Studies have shown increased asthma hospital admissions for those who are materially deprived and increased asthma severity in low social class groups. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of socioeconomic status on control of asthma in adults.
Methods: The study was a cross-sectional analytical one, conducted over a year at the Medical Outpatient Clinic of the University College Hospital Ibadan. The study population was composed of 355 randomly selected adults aged between 18years and 55years with an established diagnosis of asthma already on treatment.
Results: Respondents with monthly income of N40000 and above had a higher proportion with good asthma control (74.1%) compared to those that earned N10000 to N39999 (69.0%) and less than N10000 (47.8%). This was statistically significant. Respondents in occupational class I/II had a slightly higher proportion with good asthma control (70.9%) compared to those in occupation class III/IV (70.1%) and occupation class V/VI (50.6%). This was statistically significant at p = 0.003.
Conclusion: Respondents in the higher occupational class had better asthma control than respondents in the lower occupational class. Respondents who were earning N40000 and above as monthly income had better control of asthma than other respondents. After adjusting for other variables, the predictor of good asthma control was monthly income of the respondents.

Keywords: Education, Occupation, Monthly income, Asthma control