Abstract:
Back ground: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. It is
estimated that around 300 million people in the world currently have asthma. The rate of
asthma increases as communities adopt western lifestyles and become urbanized. Asthma is
a complex disease that can be aggravated by various personal health behaviors as well as
environmental triggers.
Objective: The objective of this study was to identify risk factors of asthma among people
15-64 years old in the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center, South west Ethiopia.
Methods: The data were extracted from the population based cross sectional study
conducted from late September 2008 to the end of January 2009 at Gilgel Gibe Field
Research Center (GGFRC).A total of 4030 participants were used for the analysis. Data
were analyzed by using SPSS version 16 and results were presented by tables, charts and
descriptive statistics like proportion. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to
examine association between each independent variable with the dependent variable. To
assess the effects of each independent variable on the dependent variable multivariable
logistic regression analysis was carried out and fit to the final model. A 95% confidence
level with p-value of < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance.
Result: From a total 4030 respondents 57 (1.4%) had reported asthma. Of those 57
asthmatics 31 (54.4%) were women, 19(33.3%) within age 55-64 years, 36 (63.2%) had no
formal education and 25(43.9%) unpaid and unemployed. Fifty four (94.7%) were ever
smokers, 49 (86%) consumed alcohol in the 30 days before the survey, 55 (96.5%)
consumed less than five servings of fruit and vegetable (low level consumption) and 12
(21.1%) were physically inactive. Age ranges 35-44,45-54,55-64 years and educational
level grade nine and above were significantly associated with reported asthma with Pvalue (0.006,0.005,0.0001 and 0.001) respectively.
Conclusion: In conclusion this study identified older ages and higher educations were
associated with higher levels of reported asthma
