ABSTRACT

Background: Asthma is a condition defined by its clinical, physiological and pathological features. The predominant characteristic are the respiratory distress episodes. Multiple studies have been conducted regarding diagnosis, classification and treatment of the asthma process. On the other hand, few studies have focused on the evaluation of clinical characteristics of patients with acute asthma. The purpose of the present work was to describe the clinical and epidemiological features of the pediatric patient with acute asthma attending the emergency room.
Methods: A total of 224 clinical reports from the emergency room were reviewed in order to collect data of interest. These data were analyzed through descriptive statistics.
Results: Our results showed that most patients were females (60.7%), with an average age of 8 years, with predominance of first-time consultations (60.7%). In addition, the most important factors were lack of adherence to controller therapy, passive smoking and non use of relieve therapy.
Conclusions: Based on the results from the present study, it is possible to recommend reinforce that health institutions providing medical care to pediatric patients with acute asthma, to reinforce its educational programs aimed not only to patients but also to first-contact physicians, highlighting avoidance of passive smoking and promoting the adherence to controller therapy and the proper use of relieve therapy.

KEYWORDS

Acute asthma, risk factors, clinical features, passive smoking.

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