title: Standard case management of asthma in Sudan: a pilot project.
abstract: METHODS
  A pilot project for asthma management in selected hospitals in Khartoum and Gezira States, Sudan.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess standard case management of asthma in 2007-2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  Local adaptation of guidelines, followed by situational analysis, pre-intervention study, training and implementation. Treatment outcome was assessed 1 year after patient enrolment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Situational analysis revealed that inhaled beclometasone was not available in the public sector. During the project, 2068 patients were enrolled: severity of asthma was intermittent in 185 (9.0%), mild persistent in 231 (11.2%), moderate persistent in 640 (31.0%), severe persistent in 812 (39.3%) and unclassified in 200 (9.7%). Of the 1654 patients with persistent asthma who were treated with inhaled corticosteroids, 1157 (70.0%) had treatment cards available for outcome assessment. Of these, 652 (56.4%) did not attend their annual evaluation, among whom 1 (0.1%) died and 651 (56.3%) were lost to follow-up. Of the 505 patients who attended their annual evaluation, 417 (82.6%) improved, 32 (6.3%) were stable and 56 (11.1%) were worse. The frequency of emergency visits and hospitalisation decreased substantially among those who presented for the 1 year follow-up assessment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of standard case management of asthma were encouraging; however, a high proportion of patients did not return for long-term management.
authors.affiliation: Epi-Lab, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: El Sony
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France ; Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan ; Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Madani, Gezira State, Sudan.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: Epi-Lab, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hassanain
authors.affiliation: Epi-Lab, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hussien
authors.affiliation: Epi-Lab, Khartoum, Sudan ; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Dammam, Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Khamis
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Bassilli
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Enarson
keywords: asthma; follow-up; management; treatment outcome