19 years rate of hospitalization of chronic bronchial asthma in Bahrain; Quality of health care in medical department of SMC

Bronchial asthma is a common and life-threatening problem affecting neonatal , school children and adolescents. Although asthma is most common in developed (western) countries, it is becoming increasingly common in developing countries, which is most likely related to the increased urbanization of communities. Our hospital is the main government hospital that provides free secondary and tertiary health care. Recently, however, there are other private hospitals but ours still admits majority of asthmatic cases, 90 % of total cases. We investigated the incidence rate of hospitalization of critical cases of asthma among Bahraini population according to year, age at onset as well as gender of patients. We conducted a retrospective review on hospitalization of Bahraini asthmatic patients. The rate of incidence of asthma in Bahrain for the period of 1989 until 2007 consequently was calculated carefully by going through health information department (HID) records. The first entry in the system was considered as age at onset, during which the patient has been hospitalized. The ratio of incidence was calculated by dividing the total incident in each age at onset group to the age of total Bahraini population. Gender, year of incidence and age at onset of patients were considered as variables. The results were double checked and released by the HID data quality analysis group. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)15program was used. In general there was no significant difference among the ratio of asthmatic patients admitted in SMC throughout these 19 years. Age specificity of asthma was clear among patients; it was male dominance in patients with less than one year until 14 years old. Both males and females equally were hospitalized proportionally equal in ages between 15-19 years. From 20 to 44 years the disease has been dominant in females. The rate of hospitality was equally distributed among both genders in more than 45 year old patients with bronchial asthma . Asthma is a common disorder in Bahrain as it is globally. Although the rate of hospitalization of asthmatic cases in neighboring countries have increased recently, however, we have noticed no significant change in the rate of hospitalization of asthmatic patients in Bahrain. Age specificity of asthma was clear in the asthmatic patient. There is an urgent need for asthma and allergy Registry in Bahrain.