Anxiety among school age children suffering from asthma.

The aim of the present work was to study anxiety among school age students suffering from asthma. The study was conducted on a total number of 146 asthmatic preparatory school students, attending the asthma clinic in Sporting Students' Hospital in Alexandria Governorate. The study was performed during the period from June to September 1997. A matching control of 223 non-asthmatic students from the preparatory school in the East educational zone in Alexandria Governorate were also included in the study. The study was carried out through a cross-sectional approach. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about, the general characteristics of the sample, interpersonal and inter-parental relationships, school performance and the attitude and behavior of mothers towards their asthmatic children. The Arabic version of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to identify children with anxiety state. The present result revealed that 24.7% of the asthmatic students were anxious, with a higher preponderance among boys than girls (26.6%, 21.2%, respectively). Bad interpersonal and inter-parental relationships had increased the risk of occurrence of anxiety state among asthmatic children. Also, poor scholastic achievement was more encountered among asthmatics who had anxiety. The development of asthma education programs to increase parents', children's and teachers' awareness of asthma symptoms and asthma trigger events was recommended.