ABSTRACT
Background: Asthma is a common chronic disease among teenager students, and has led to a significant morbidities and disabilities. Few comprehensive studies have estimated the prevalence of asthma in Erbil city. Objective(s): To find out the prevalence of asthma in 12 to 19-year-old teenager students in Erbil city and to identify the factors that are associated with prevalence of asthma. Method(s): A cross-sectional study was carried out on 2000, 12 to 19-year-old students in Erbil city, during the academic year 2021-2022. The questionnaire was developed by the researcher. The data were analyzed by SPSS, version 25, software. A pvalue of <= 0.05 was considered, statistically significant. Result(s): The prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma was 7.0%. Significant association (p < 0.001) was detected between the prevalence of asthma and the following factors: using gaseous heating system, using kerosene heating system, insecticides spray use, presence of dampens on the wall, household pets, smoking, having plants at house and spending some time at the house or public garden, while there was no significant association between the prevalence of asthma and the following factors: allowing household pets in bed (p 0.895), using home generator (p = 0.160), presence of a factory (p = 0.139) or generator ( p = 0.474) near the house, exposure to irritant substances during work after the school hours (p = 0.150). Conclusion(s): The prevalence of asthma in Erbil city, Iraqi Kurdistan Region was 7.0 %. The rate of asthma and asthma related symptoms is highly effected by many of risk factors like heating system inside the house and house related factors such as presence of dampens, molds, household pets, presence of plants and flowers in the house and smoking among 12 to 19-year-old teenager. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.