• Mosunmola Florence Tunde-Ayinmode.
• University of Ilorin/University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Department of Behavioural Sciences.
• Afr Health Sci. 2015 Jun 1; 15 (2): 690-700.

BackgroundPaediatric bronchial asthma causes respiratory related mortality and morbidity globally and elevates the risk of psychological and social problems (psychosocial problems); which may result in poorer asthma control. The rate of and associated factors for psychosocial problems among our asthmatic children was assessed in this study.MethodsSeventy five (75) children aged 7 to 14 years with bronchial asthma who were attending clinics at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria, were assessed with Child behaviour questionnaire and a semi-structured questionnaire.ResultsProbable psychological morbidity was present in 25% of the children. The most frequently reported social impairments associated with the disease were: interference with play (60%), domestic work (49%), fear of dying anytime (29%) and feeling of being a burden on the family (25%). Psychological morbidity was significantly associated with lower maternal education (p=0.020) and occupation (p=0.038), polygamy (p=0.012), fathers having more than 5 children (p=0.027) and mothers having inadequate spousal support (p=0.012). Inadequate spousal support and lower maternal occupational level were the significant predictors of morbidity following logistic regression.ConclusionRoutine psychosocial assessment and care for children with asthma needs to be introduced into our clinics to help protect them and their families from avoidable suffering.

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