[Prevalence and control of asthma among medical students at Parakou, Benin]

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and to assess the control of asthma among students at the faculty of medicine of the university of Parakou in Benin.

This cross-sectional study was carried out between January and November 2017. The Asthma Screening Questionnaire (ASQ) was filled out by medical students, followed by the Asthma Control Test questionnaire for those who were suspected of having clinical asthma (ASQ≥4). All students with clinical asthma or with a history of asthma were invited to perform a spirometry test.

Overall, 837 (73.7%) students out of 1136 were included. The prevalence was 9.1% for ever diagnosed asthma, 14% for clinical asthma and 5.3% for confirmed asthma. Among 761 students, without a previous asthma diagnosis, 10.4% had clinical asthma and 3.3% a confirmed asthma. Female sex (aOR=2.1; 95%CI =1.0-4.1), a previous diagnosis of asthma (aOR=7; 95% CI=3.2-15.2) and allergic rhinitis (aOR=3.9; 95% CI=1.9-7.8) were associated with confirmed asthma. Asthma symptoms were controlled in 92 (78.6%) students, partly controlled in 20 (17.1%), and not controlled in 5 (4.3%).

Clinical manifestations of asthma are frequent among medical students at Parakou. Some are not well controlled, suggesting a need for greater awareness and an improvement in clinical follow-up.