Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TURKISH JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS, cilt.65, sa.5, ss.739-747, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
Background. No long-term data exists on asthma treatment compliances (ATC), exacerbations (AE), and control (AC) during the COVID-19 pandemic in children. This study aimed to evaluate ATC, AE, AC and the related factors among children with persistent asthma (PA) within the first year of the pandemicMethods. Children aged 6-18 years with PA who were under regular inhaled corticosteroid treatment for at least a year prior to the first COVID-19 case in Turkiye were included. Data on AE and AC were collected from medical files. Factors affecting ATC and AC as well as COVID-19 history were assessed by means of a questionnaire.Results. The study included 247 cases. COVID-19 was detected in 14.5% of them. In the first year of the pandemic, ATC decreased to 56.7% and the most common reason was the absence of asthma symptoms. There was a significant improvement in AC (p<0.001). The number of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and AE were significantly decreased during the first year of the pandemic (p<0.001). COVID-19 infection, smoking in the household, school attendance, a family member working outside the home, house dust mite sensitization or allergic rhinitis had no significant effect on AC (p>0.05). Regression analysis determined that children who did not have any URTI had 2.4 times better AC compared to those who had (p= 0.02; %95 CI: 1.1-5.4).Conclusions. Although ATC decreased significantly in the long-term in the first year of the pandemic, significant improvement was observed in AE and AC compared to the previous year, which was related only to not having URTI.