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. 2023 Mar;60(3):516-524.
doi: 10.1080/02770903.2022.2066002. Epub 2022 Apr 25.

Burden of asthma-like symptoms and a lack of recognition of asthma in Vietnamese children

Hong H T C Le  1   2 , Pham Le An  3 , Nguyen Nhu Vinh  3 , Robert S Ware  4 , Dung Phung  5 , Phong K Thai  6 , Sarath Ranganathan  7 , Tran Ngoc Dang  8 , Phan Hoang Thuy Dung  8 , Do Thi Hoai Thuong  8 , Hai Phung  5 , To Thi Hien  9 , Peter D Sly  2
Affiliations

Burden of asthma-like symptoms and a lack of recognition of asthma in Vietnamese children

Hong H T C Le et al. J Asthma. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Lack of recognition of asthma in childhood results in unmet asthma treatment needs and leads to the risk of sub-optimal respiratory health. The present study assessed the prevalence of asthmatic under-recognition in middle school children in Vietnam.

Methods: We conducted a school-based survey among 15,112 Vietnamese children. Most of them are aged from 13 to 14. Schools and students were recruited using multi-stage sampling. Respiratory symptoms were collected via self-report using a standardized tool from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Under-recognition of asthma was defined as a presence of at least one asthma-like symptom but a negative response to having ever asthma. Associations were investigated using logistic regression.

Results: Prevalence of asthma-like symptoms was 27.3% and prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma was 8.5%. Over 80% of symptomatic children were not diagnosed with asthma. Under-recognition of asthma was found more in girls (adjusted odds ratio; aOR = 1.75; 95%CI: 1.54 to 1.98).

Conclusions: Asthma is significantly under-recognized in Vietnamese middle-school children. Urgent action is required to improve the recognition of asthma in Vietnam.

Keywords: Asthma; ISAAC; Vietnam; children; under-recognition.

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