Sabahattin KARAKAYA, Şükrü ÇEKİÇ, Yakup CANITEZ, Merve KORKMAZ, Nihat SAPAN
Çocuk Dergisi - 2026;26(1):38-45
Objective: Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood. The goal of asthma treatment is to achieve complete control of the damage. This study aimed to investigate the control status of children diagnosed with asthma aged 4-18 years, using asthma control tests, and the factors affecting this control. Methods: 500 asthmatic children aged 4-18 years were included in the study. Patients were assessed using the C-ACT in the 4-11 age group and the ACT in the 12-18 age group. Patients with asthma aged 4-11 years were classified as under-controlled based on the C-ACT results between 20 and 27 points, and as uncontrolled if they scored 19 or below. Patients with asthma aged 12-18 years were classified as well-controlled based on the ACT results between 20 and 25 points and poorly controlled if they scored 19 or below. To compare the vitamin D levels of the patients, the vitamin D levels of 100 children aged 4-18 years without any chronic disease were recorded retrospectively. Results: Of the cases, 55.6% (n=278) were male and 44.4% (n=222) were female. When evaluated in general, the median age at diagnosis was 7.2 years (minimum=1, maximum=16). According to the results of C-ACT, 51.7% (n=151) of the cases with asthma in the 4-11 age group were under control, and according to the results of ACT, 58.7% (n=122) of the cases between the ages of 12-18 were well controlled. Number of emergency visits; median=2 in the 4-11 age group (minimum=1, maximum=30), median=2 in the 12-18 age group (minimum=1, maximum=20) (p>0.05). Use of antibiotics at least once in the past year was significantly higher in the 4-11 age group (n=259, 88.70%) than in the 12-18 age group (n=156, 75%) (p<0.001). Asthma-related school absences (median=3, min=0, max=30) were significantly higher in the 12-18 age group than in the 4-11 age group (median, min=0, max=40) (p = 0.007). There was no significant difference in serum 25-OH-vitamin D levels between asthma and controls in either age group. Conclusion: In our study, a significant portion of the cases were uncontrolled despite regular follow-up and treatment. The low rate of influenza vaccination in asthmatic children and the higher-than-expected rate of smoking at home suggest a lack of education on this topic. No significant difference was found between asthmatic patients' and controls' vitamin D levels.
