title: Determinants of asthma control among children in Saudi Arabia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children. Uncontrolled asthma may considerably decrease the quality of life for patients and their families. Our objective was to identify possible risk factors for poor asthma control in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted among children with asthma aged 4-11 years who attended a pediatric clinic for follow-up visits at one of the major teaching hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Asthma control status was measured by the childhood asthma control test. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the relationships between the outcome and exposure variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Uncontrolled asthma was present in 89 out of 158 children (59.3%). Asthma control improved with the number of siblings. Control improved by 69% with two or three siblings (OR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.10-0.96) and by 87% with four or more siblings (OR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.04-0.48). Similarly, asthma control improved with an increased asthma knowledge of the caregiver (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.81-0.93). Household incomes less than SAR 15 000 and sharing a bedroom increased the odds of having uncontrolled asthma by 2.30 (95% CI = 1.02-5.21) and 3.33 (95% CI = 1.33-8.35), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to knowledge, socioeconomic factors, such as family income, household crowding, and the number of siblings are associated with asthma control among children in Saudi Arabia. Further research is needed to investigate the role of these factors.
authors.affiliation: Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz Research Chair of Epidemiology and Public Health, College of Medicine, King Saud University , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia .
authors.forename: Abdulaziz A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: BinSaeed
authors.forename: Armen A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Torchyan
authors.forename: Abdulmajeed A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Alsadhan
authors.forename: Ghaith M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Almidani
authors.forename: Abdulaziz A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Alsubaie
authors.forename: Ahmad A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Aldakhail
authors.forename: Abdullah A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: AlRashed
authors.forename: Mohamed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: AlFawaz
authors.forename: Muslim M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Alsaadi
mesh_terms: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D004522:Educational Status; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011584:Psychology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D035781:Siblings; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents