Knowledge about asthma: A cross-sectional survey in 4 major hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: To determine knowledge and misconceptions about asthma among the local population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at four tertiary care hospitals; Aga Khan University Hospital, Civil Hospital Karachi, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, Karachi, from October to November 2016, and comprised hospital attendants. The questionnaire used in the study comprised 26 questions answered with a true, false or not sure answer.SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. Results: There were 400 participants. The overall mean age was 41.2±14.2 years, and 214(53.5%) of the participants were males. Moreover, 75(19%) participants thought that asthma was a psychological disorder while 181(45%) considered it an infectious disease. Nearly 174(43.5%) believed that inhaled medications had significant side effects. Besides, 264(66%) participants considered steam inhalation to be an effective treatment for asthma, 269(67%) thought that patients with asthma should avoid rice in their diet and 167(42%) considered milk as a common trigger. Conclusion: Participants’ knowledge about asthma was poor and misconceptions were common about the condition.