[Bronchial asthma and sport. State of knowledge on bronchial asthma of primary physical education teachers in Schleswig-Holstein].
BACKGROUND
There is a high prevalence of bronchial asthma among school children in primary schools (age 6-10 years). Although physical exertion may induce acute episodes of asthma in the majority of children, exercise may also be an important part of the therapy for asthma and motor development of children with asthma. In the present study, the knowledge concerning asthma and exercise among teachers in primary schools was investigated.


METHODS
120 teachers of physical education in Schleswig-Holstein were interviewed concerning their baseline data (age, gender, education) and their knowledge about asthma and physical exercise.


RESULTS
44% do not plan their lessons with regard to possible stimuli for asthma attacks. Only 32 teachers prefer correct interval training and only a small minority check the asthma emergency medication before the exercise lessons. There were no differences with regard to gender, age or education of the teachers.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data demonstrate an insufficient knowledge about bronchial asthma among the teachers we studied. Both the medical knowledge (reaction in case of acute episodes of asthma) and the principles of exercise in children with asthma were not satisfactory.
Forck
I
I
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Abt. Sportmedizin, 24118 Kiel.
Märzhäuser
A
A
Weisser
B
B
D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005178:Faculty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000078329:Workforce