Abstract

Background: Regardless of severity, persistent asthma impacts significantly on the health-related quality of life. The increasing prevalence of asthma among the Middle East countries accounts for assessing the level of asthma control and quality of life among suffering asthmatics. The study evaluated the health outcomes of asthmatics who received ambulatory care in the Sultanate of Oman.
Method: A prospective observational study was conducted on 31 mild to moderate persistent asthma patients at a secondary care setup. Patients satisfying study criteria signed informed consent to enter the study. Quality of life was assessed using the JuniperMini-Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (Mini- AQLQ) and asthma control using the Asthma Control Test (ACT). Descriptive statistics applied for demographics and data presented in percentages and mean ± standard deviation. Independent sample t-test was performed to the severity subgroups of Mini-AQLQ scores and ACT values. Pearsons correlation was done to establish an association of ACT to AQLQ total score.
Results: Patients enrolled aged 34.16±2.26 years and 74.2% of patients suffered moderate persistent asthma. About 61.3% of patients reported having allergic rhinitis. The moderate persistent asthmatics reported a poor quality of life (3.8±0.81) compared to patients with mild persistent asthma (4.53±0.84). About 58% of patients were having good asthma control with a mean ACT score 22.5±1.64. The activity limitation and environmental stimuli scores of Mini-AQLQ significantly (p<0.05) correlates with the ACT values of patients signifying the factors ignored for better control over asthma among the population.
Conclusion: Moderate persistent asthma patients experienced a poor quality of life and require treatment modifications. Mini-AQLQ is adaptable in the Omani population for QoL evaluation. The activity limitations and environmental stimuli are unavoidable factors to be addressed for the control of asthma among the Omani population to achieve a better quality of life.