Abstract:
Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases in childhood in
the world and it was estimated that 14% of the children experienced symptoms of asthma. The
prevalence of asthma among 5 to 11 years old children in Sri Lanka varies between 13% to 25%
and it is a major cause of school absence. Good knowledge, attitudes and practice is vital to
manage childhood asthma and to achieve better treatment outcomes.
Objectives: To assess knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the management of
childhood asthma among parents who seek treatment for their asthmatic child from Lady
Ridgeway Hospital, Sri Lanka.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 181
parents who seek treatment for their asthmatic child from medical clinic at Lady Ridgeway
Hospital, Sri Lanka. Interviewer administrated questionnaire was used as a data collection tool.
Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. SPSS version 23 was used as a
data analytical tool.
Results: Most of the asthmatic children were Sinhalese (74%), males (59.1%) with the age of 5
to 16 years (51.9%). Only 13% of them had birth defects and 22% of them had past medical
history other than asthma. Most of the mothers (53.6%) belong to 18 to 35 years of age and most
of the fathers (66.3%) belong to 36 to 55 years of age. More than half of the mothers (55.2%)
and 47.5% of the fathers were educated up to G.C.E O/L. Nearly, half (48.6%) of the parents
had poor knowledge regarding management of childhood asthma. Only 6.6% of parents had
poor attitudes towards their asthmatic child. The majority of the parents (86.7%) had good
practices regarding the asthma management.
Conclusions: The study revealed that nearly half of the parents had poor knowledge regarding
the management of childhood asthma. But majority of the parents had good attitudes towards
their asthmatic child and good practices regarding the child hood asthma management.
