Background; wheezing disorders like asthma have significant negative impact on disabilityadjusted life-years (DALY) index. Their timely recognition, which is highly dependent on care givers knowledge, is the most important step in the management of such disorders. Aim; The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of asthma of mothers of children suffering from wheezing disorders. Methods; a total of 300 mothers having children aged 6 months to 18 years were enrolled in the study. Results; Maximum number of mothers (79.3%) reported change in weather as the most important precipitating factor for their child’s illness. Dust (47.3%) food/drinks (42.7%) and cold air (37.3%) were other commonly reported precipitating factors. Mothers had poor knowledge about home management of an acute attack of asthma. Only 34% of mothers give aerosol therapy during an acute attack. Although majority of mothers knew about aerosol therapy, but they were not using it because of various false beliefs like addictive nature of therapy, social stigma associated with its use and its side effects. Conclusion: information about wheezy disorders like asthma was inadequate among mothers of asthmatic children in our setting. Misconceptions about the disease and the available therapies and paucity of information about current trends in management are significant findings.
Wheezing disorders, Children, Asthma, knowledge
