Sociodemographic characteristics of asthma patients and accompanying comorbidities

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the prevalence of comorbidities in asthmatic and non-asthmatic individuals and to compare groups based on sociodemographic variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study used data from the 2017 National Household Health Survey (NHHS), which included 6053 individuals aged 15 years and older. The sociodemographic characteristics, behavioral risk factors, and comorbidities of the study participants were analyzed and Pearson chi-squared tests were used to assess statistical significance, and multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationships. RESULTS: Of the 6053 participants, 518 had asthma; 40.4% were male and 59.6% were female, and 73.2% of the asthma patients and 58.3% of the non-asthmatic individuals were females (p < 0.001). Patients with asthma had a higher prevalence of at least one comorbidity compared to non-asthmatic individuals (p < 0.001). Disease-specific analyses in patients with asthma showed higher rates of hypertension (42.9% vs. 23.9%), hyperlipidemia (35.3% vs. 19.4%), diabetes (27.8% vs. 17.7%), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (29.7% vs. 2.6%), cardiovascular diseases (16.0% vs. 6.1%), and obesity (56.1% vs. 36.2%) (p < 0.001). In the multiple logistic regression analysis, asthma was 14.6 times more likely in individuals with COPD, 1.6 times more likely in obese individuals, and 1.7 times more likely in those with hyperlipidemia. CONCLUSION: Patients with asthma have a higher prevalence of specific comorbidities with varying sociodemographic characteristics. Further research is needed to explore the causal relationships between asthma and these comorbidities to improve disease management strategies.