Prevalence of Asthma and Association with Biomass Fuel Use and Other Factors among Adults’ Women in Urban Burkina Faso: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Author(s): Sana Adama, Meda Nicolas, Ouedraogo Abdoul Risgou, Kafando Benoit, Badoum Gisele, Bouland Catherine

Introduction: Asthma is one of the most significant non-communicable diseases. In 2016, the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) estimated that asthma affects as many as 339 million people worldwide. More than 80% of asthma deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the burden of asthma.

Methods: We did this population-based cross-sectional study in Ouagadougou city, Burkina Faso. We randomly selected women above the age of 18 years from 3 neighborhoods in 2 districts. Trained interviewers asked validated questionnaires and administered spirometry to participants. Participants considered with asthma were those who reported wheeze in the past 12 months and/or a physician diagnosis of asthma and/or current use of asthma medications and/or have been diagnosed with asthma by the spirometry test. We calculated prevalence of asthma and tested its association with risk factors.

Results: Between March 2017 and September 2018, we interviewed 1705 women, of whom 835 were selected for the spirometry, and among them, 564 provided acceptable spirometry and were analyzed. Mean age was 36 years; none have reported current or former smoking. The prevalence of asthma was 18.18%. The peak of prevalence was observed in the 25-34 years age-group. About 3.28% reported a physician diagnosis of asthma or use of asthma medications and 16.07% reported wheeze in the past 12 months. Asthma was associated with biomass use as main cooking fuel (odds ratio 1·33, 95% CI 1·02–1·73; p = 0·035), having a family history of asthma (2.19, 1.59-3.03; p < 0.001), being in the age group 25-34 years (1.55, 1.05-2.28; p = 0.028). Living less than 100 meters from a paved road seems to be a protective factor (0.45, 0.34-0.59; p < 0.001). We didn’t find any association between asthma and passive smoking.

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