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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

The prevalence of childhood asthma in white primary schoolchildren in the southern suburbs of Cape Town

Nagel, Frederick Otto January 1993 (has links)
The author participated in an international survey organised by the British Medical Research Council (MRC) epidemiological unit in Cardiff, Wales which set out to compare the prevalence of asthma in several countries. The motivation for participating in this study was that very little previous prevalence data for asthma is available for coloured or white children in South Africa. A protocol designed by the British MRC Epidaemiology Unit was followed. One thousand one hundred and seventy four white children aged 12 years attending a random selection of primary schools in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town were studied. A standard MRC questionnaire on asthma was completed by parents. The subjects then underwent an exercise challenge test (ECT) which involved running on the level for six minutes. During the ECT, we measured the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEVl) before and after the exercise. A fall in post exercise FEVl of 15% or greater was regarded as evidence of bronchoconstriction and considered diagnostic of asthma. This method is thought to identify 70-90% of asthmatics (Anderson 1985, Lee et al 1989, Pierson 1988). Using this criterion, 52 (4.4%) of the children had asthma. The prevalence of 4.4% in this study is higher than 3.1% reported in a previous study of black children in Guguletu (Van Niekerk et al, Clinical Allergy 1979). However, the age spectrum of children was different in that study. Terblanche et al (1990) report the prevalence of exercise induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) in white and coloured children to be 5.87% and 4.05% respectively. The level of FEVl reduction for a diagnosis of EIB approved for this study was lower than usually accepted. Using conventional criteria for a diagnosis of EIB, Burr et al (1989) reported a prevalence of 7.7% in Cardiff, Wales. This study confirms that exercise induced asthma is a common problem in 12-year old white children in Cape Town.
2

Do home circumstances affect asthma control in children from a developing country?

Garba, Bilkisu Ilah 23 April 2014 (has links)
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine Johannesburg, August 2013 / Asthma control is a central focus of the updated version of the GINA Guidelines, in which clinicians are encouraged to concentrate on assessment of control, defined by symptoms, lung function and the presence or history of exacerbations. Control is of critical importance in asthma and is now more important than the actual level of severity. Measures of asthma control do not necessarily perform well and all of them need to be looked at as a whole as studies have shown. Many factors have been found to be associated with poor asthma control ranging from concomitant rhinitis and co morbidities to poor compliance with medications or inappropriate inhaler technique in addition to home or environmental factors. Several factors around the home of asthmatic patients contribute to poor asthma control which includes parental smoking or smoking by other relatives within the home, biomass fuel exposure, exposure to aeroallergens and animal danders which all leads to failure in achieving control despite adequate drug therapy. This cross sectional study was conducted in 115 asthmatics children with the aim of determining the level of asthma control and home circumstances that contributes to poor asthma control. Most patients were males and blacks with 55.65% of patients having controlled asthma. Use of biomass fuel was uncommon in this study and none of the home circumstances was found to be associated with poor asthma control in this study. Day time and nocturnal asthma symptoms were significantly associated with poor asthma control. Good adherence to medications was found to be associated with asthma control similar association was not seen with good inhaler technique. The higher the FEV1 percent predicted the better the asthma control. Day time and nocturnal asthma symptoms were associated with FEV1. Results from this study need confirmation in a representative population study. Further longitudinal study is required to see if home circumstances may affect asthma control in patients that had controlled asthma.
3

Spirometric studies in children, with special reference to asthma

Heese, Hans de Villiers 02 August 2017 (has links)
This thesis is a report on the value and limitations of the practical application of the Forced Expiratory Volume and Forced Vital Capacity test in children aged from 7 to 16 years. The first part deals with review of the literature on lung function and evolution of the Forced Expiratory Volume and Forced Vital Capacity test. The method and apparatus used in the test, the establishment of "normal values", the correlation of these values and certain anthropometric data, the establishment of prediction formulae for normal values, a study of the effect of factors such as sex, "learning" and repeatability, posture, daily and day-to-day variations, and the inhalation of isoprenaline on these normal values are reported. The second part deals with the practical application of the test in various pathological conditions affecting the cardio-respiratory system. The effect of respiratory disorders on ventilatory function is reported and an attempt is made to assess the effect of management, medical treatment and prognosis of a respiratory disorder at any given stage of that disorder acknowledging always that the complete evaluation of a patient requires more than laboratory tests.
4

An evaluation of parental knowledge of childhood asthma in a Family Practice setting

Moosa, Sulaiman Essa Ismail 22 August 2017 (has links)
The purpose of this study was to measure and evaluate parental knowledge and misconceptions with regard to asthma and its treatment, to identify parental concerns with regard to the disease and its effects on their children, and to identify selected socio-demographic and medical correlates of the above. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 54 families with a child with asthma. The sample comprised all the parents of a consecutive series of asthmatic patients between the ages of two to eighteen years attending a family practice in Mandalay on the Cape Flats. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire administered to 52 mothers and 48 fathers, reflecting a 95.2 per cent response rate. Respondents completed the questionnaire in their homes. A 55 item Asthma Knowledge Test was developed and validated to assess medical knowledge. Parents obtained an average score of 72%. Scores of over 70% were obtained in the sub-sections of aetiology, symptomatology, pathophysiology, precipitants and environmental control. Parents were less informed in the sub-sections of asthma prognosis, general medical knowledge and asthma therapy. Misconceptions and deficiencies in asthma knowledge which could lead to inadvertent non-compliance were identified. The following misconceptions were shared by a significant number of parents: inhaler therapy weakens the heart, regular administration of medication leads to addiction and medicines becoming ineffective, and folk remedies are effective in asthma therapy. Parental educational status was the only significant correlate with performance on the Asthma Knowledge Test. There was no significant difference in the performances of mothers and fathers. 47% of parents smoked but there was no significant difference in the scores of smokers and non-smokers. Parental concerns centred predominantly on their lack of confidence to manage acute asthma attacks, followed by concern as to whether their children will outgrow asthma. Dependence on asthma medication and its perceived harmful effect on the heart and lungs were other concerns. The findings suggest the need for systematic asthma education especially with regard to acute attack management and preventive medications. The aims of such education should be to increase asthma knowledge, develop skills, improve attitudes, and develop positive expectations toward the outcome and effectiveness of treatment. An effort should be undertaken to discourage parental smoking in asthmatic families. Attention should be given to dispel misconceptions during educational programmes. The increased information needs of parents with a lower education should be addressed by health professionals. Parents should receive adequate information during the early stages of the disease to minimise their insecurity in coping with the illness and prevent the development of misconceptions that undermine their confidence in medications and care givers.

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