Profile of the asthma clinic at Addington hospital, Durban.

Abstract

A study was done about the Asthma Clinic at Addington Hospital to show the characteristics and demography of the patients attending the clinic during the study period of one year. Some of the aspects studied were: the onset and duration of asthma, concomitant allergies, smoking behaviour, evaluation of treatment, casualty attendance, hospital admissions and compliance in attending the clinic. Therapy of the patients was aimed at control of inflammation and brocho constriction. Preventative pumps were used in 96% of the patients. The aim was to make the patient symptom free, to live a normal life and to prevent short term and long term complications of asthma. A comparison was made between three different groups of patients. a) non-smokers, b) smokers and ex-smokers, c) non-compliance in attending the clinic. It was found that the non-smoking group showed clinical improvement in lung functions, although not statistically significant.