References
Teachers' role perception and opinions on the partnership between schools and parents for asthma control in Osun State, Nigeria
Abstract
Asthma among school adolescents has been a major contributor to school absence and teachers can play an important role in supporting students with asthma and their families. The study assessed the knowledge of teachers on asthma-friendly schools, their perceived roles in the control of asthma and also their opinion on school-parent partnership in the control of asthma. A cross-sectional design was used and quantitative data were collected from 380 teachers working in selected private high schools in Nigeria. A majority (70%) of the teachers had a good knowledge of the asthma-friendly school concept. Also, a larger proportion (76.3%) had good perception about their roles in the control of asthma. Marital status significantly predicted the teachers' perception (OR=4.57, CI=1.66–12.60, P=0.003). Most of the teachers (72.1%) opined that there was no partnership between the school and the parents in the control of asthma. Partnership between parents and teachers needs to be strengthened for the successful management of asthma in students.
Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease and a major cause of morbidity and mortality (Ozoh et al, 2019a). Approximately 300 million people have been reported to have asthma worldwide and this number is predicted to increase to 400 million by 2025 (Dharmage et al, 2020). The Sub-Saharan countries are not spared the health burden of asthma, with increased prevalence and exacerbation of symptoms among different age groups (Adeloye et al, 2013; Kwizera et al, 2019). In Nigeria, the prevalence of asthma is inconsistent and the nationally representative information needed for health intervention is not available (Ozoh et al, 2019b). However, a systematic review and meta-analysis by Musa and Aliyu (2014) revealed that the prevalence of asthma among people aged 13 years to 65 years ranged from 5.12% to 14.7% and the overall pooled estimate was 10.2%. The results of a recently conducted nationwide study indicated that the ‘prevalence (95% confidence interval) of physician diagnosed asthma, clinical asthma and wheeze is 2.5% (2.3–2.7%), 6.4% (6.0–6.64%) and 9.0% (8.6–9.4%) respectively’ and this value increased with age (Ozoh et al, 2019b). Even with the inconsistent data in Nigeria on the prevalence of asthma, a rising trend can be seen in the prevalence of asthma among adolescents.
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