Epidemiology of bronchial asthma and asthma control assessment in Henan Province, China

BACKGROUND: Prevalence of bronchial asthma, asthma treatment assessment, and estimation of the control level among asthma patients in Henan Province, China are reported in this paper. METHODS: We selected 10 among the 109 cities and districts in Henan province using a multistage stratified cluster random sampling method. A total of 500 households from each city and district were chosen. Approximately 20,000 residents from a total of 5,000 households were randomly selected to answer a questionnaire recommended by the China Asthma Alliance. Asthma patients were asked to answer a detailed questionnaire using the symptom-based guidelines to assess the levels of disease control. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of asthma was 0.73% ± 0.12%. Urban and rural residents had asthma prevalence rates of 1.1% ± 0.23% (88/7,924) and 0.48% ± 0.12% (57/11,792), respectively. Among the asthma patients, only 33.8% (52) received regular medication, 25% (13) used oral glucocorticoids, and 71.1% (37) used oral theophylline. The classified control levels of patients were as follows: 33.1% controlled, 49.7% partially controlled, and 17.2% uncontrolled. A total of 38.5% and 27.5% of regularly and irregularly treated asthma patients reached controlled level, respectively. The two groups significantly differed in asthma control level. CONCLUSION: Asthma prevalence is low in Henan Province, China. Urban residents have higher prevalence of asthma than rural residents do. Patients with asthma receive insufficient medication, resulting in suboptimal asthma control. Improvement in diagnosis and treatment of asthma patients is urgently needed.