Academic Performance of Primary School Children with Asthma

Abstract

The academic performance of children with asthma may differ from that of their non-asthmatic colleagues. Reports on the academic performance of children with asthma are limited and the findings are inconsistent. The academic performance of children with asthma in Enugu, Nigeria is determined in this study. Children with asthma aged 5 and ndash;11 years were recruited consecutively at the weekly asthma clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu, Nigeria. Their age-, sex- and socio-economic- matched non- asthmatic classmates were recruited as controls. Academic performance was assessed overall using the average of the overall scores in the three term examinations of same session as well as specifically using the performance in four key subjects (English, mathematics, Social Studies and Sciences). Socio-economic status was determined using the occupational status and educational attainment of each parent. The median (range) overall academic scores for the children with asthma 79.04% (36.08% - 99.57%) was not significantly different from those of controls 80.01% (50.65% - 97.47%) (U = 6804, p = 0.461). We concluded that the academic performance of children with asthma compares favorably with that of children without asthma.