Asthma among Children in Indonesia: Causes and Triggers

Asthma is a chronic disease that can disrupt quality of life. Up to now, the number of asthma is more increasing including in Indonesia. This study aimed to identify factors related to the incidence and triggers of asthma among 6 - 14 year-old children in Indonesia. Method of study was cross sectional design using 2013 Basic Health Research data in 33 provinces over Indonesia. Independent variables were characteristics of respondents, environmental factors and smoking behavior of children and parents. The analysis result showed that male sex, low socio-economic status, parental asthma record, children and parental smoking were the risk factors significantly related to the increasing prevalence of asthma incidence among children (p value < 0.05). Meanwhile, age, housing density, cooking fuel, home lighting and waste handling were the other variables significantly not related (p value > 0.05). Five potential triggers of asthma among children are cold weather, flu and infections, fatigue, dust and tobacco smoke. Therefore, parents should encourage their children to get a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent them from asthma attack.