Appropriateness of chronic asthma management and medication adherence in patients visiting ambulatory clinic of Gondar University Hospital: a cross-sectional study

Zelalem Tilahun Tesfaye, Nebeyu Tsegu Gebreselase, Boressa Adugna Horsa

Although asthma cannot be cured, appropriate management can ensure adequate control of the disease, prevent disease progression and even reverse the illness, enabling people to enjoy good quality of life. Predisposing factors for inappropriate asthma management, including limited diagnostic options and inadequate supply of medications, are features of health institutions in developing countries like Ethiopia. This study was launched to determine the appropriateness of asthma management in patients visiting ambulatory clinic of the Gondar University Hospital. Cross-sectional study was conducted on asthmatic patients who were on chronic follow-up at Gondar University Hospital. Data were collected by review of patients' medical records and through a semi-structured questionnaire. The Global Initiative for Asthma guideline was used as a reference for determining the  appropriateness of asthma management whereas the eight-item Morisky medication adherence scale (MMAS-8) was used to collect data on patients' adherence to asthma medications. The study participants' ages ranged from 20 to 80 years with a mean age of 49.3 ± 13.6 years. Mild asthma showed a slight predominance in frequency accounting for 38.7% of cases. Asthma management was found to be inappropriate in 52.0% of the patients. Inappropriateness of therapy is attributed to incorrect dosing of medications, addition of unnecessary medications and omission of necessary medications. Patients who had moderate asthma were more likely to receive appropriate treatment [AOR = 728: 63.2, 8386.06], whereas having a treatment regimen of beclomethasone with salbutamol was found to be predictor of inappropriate treatment [AOR = 0.004: 0.001, 0.07]. More than half (56.7%) of the study subjects reported to have high adherence to their medications. Having no formal education was a predictor of low adherence to asthma medications [AOR = 0.051: 0.003, 0.978] whereas, increased monthly income was found to have a positive association with adherence [AOR = 1.923: 1.037, 3.566]. High prevalence of inappropriate therapy in this study may be attributed primarily to limited accessibility of asthma medications, as 86% of the patients received medium dose beclomethasone with salbutamol for exacerbations despite being at different severity of asthma and level of control. The findings of the study showed more than half of asthmatic patients received inappropriate treatment. Nevertheless, a larger proportion of the patients claimed to be highly adherent to their medications.