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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Allergy
Sec. Asthma
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/falgy.2024.1483897

Patient Autonomy in self-managing their bronchial asthma exacerbation and its associated factors, 2024

Provisionally accepted
Sadik Abdulwehab Sadik Abdulwehab 1*Frezer Kedir Frezer Kedir 2
  • 1 College of Medical and Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia
  • 2 Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Asthma, a global chronic respiratory condition, varies in patient autonomy due to limited resources, health literacy, and cultural beliefs, emphasizing the importance of understanding this autonomy for improved asthma management.A cross-sectional study was conducted at Jimma University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, involving face-to-face interviews with 175 patients. Data was collected on sociodemographic characteristics, clinical factors, and autonomy levels using a validated Patient Autonomy Preference Index. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis were used.Results: A total of 175 participants were recruited, out of them 41.7% (95% CI: 31.19, 40.41)) of participants were autonomous in managing their asthma exacerbation. 127 (72.6%) of study participants were female, with a mean age of 47.51 (SD±13.96), 101(57.7%) were live in urban areas, 54 (30.9%) had no formal education, 140 (80%) were married, 112 (64%) had health insurance, and 102(83.3%) obtained health information about their condition from healthcare workers. Reside in an urban area (AOR =3.24; 95% CI: 1.40-7.49, p<0.006), have health insurance (AOR =4.30; 95% CI: 1.76-10.51, p<0.001), those doing regular exercise (AOR =4.79; 95% CI: 1.69-13.64, p<0.003), have family history (AOR =7.47; 95% CI: 1.61-34.60, p<0.01), have a duration above five years since diagnosis (AOR =0.44; 95% CI: 1.04-1.26, p<0.003), and participants with a high level of health literacy (AOR =1.10; 95% CI: 1.00-1.20, p<0.042) become associated with being autonomous in managing asthma exacerbation.Only around forty-two percent of study participants were autonomous in managing their asthma exacerbation. Thus healthcare providers should give due attention to those who reside in rural areas, are not insured, recently diagnosed with asthma, and with low health literacy to enhance patient autonomy and self-management practices, ultimately improving health outcomes for individuals with asthma.

    Keywords: Patient, Autonomous, Asthma, self-management, Ethiopia

    Received: 20 Aug 2024; Accepted: 07 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Abdulwehab and Kedir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sadik Abdulwehab, College of Medical and Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.