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Published:
Jul 3, 2026DOI:
10.4314/gmj.v60i2.3Keywords:
Article Details
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Main Article Content
Health-related quality of life of adults with asthma attending primary health care clinics in Windhoek, Namibia
Abstract
Objective: This study assessed the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of adults with asthma attending primary health care clinics in Windhoek, Namibia.
Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study
Setting: Primary healthcare clinics in Windhoek.
Participants: Adult (≥18 years) patients with a clinician-confirmed diagnosis of asthma
Main outcome measures: HRQoL across four (4) domains: Symptoms, Activity Limitation, Emotional function, and Environmental Stimuli, and Socio-demographic (age, gender, occupation) and asthma-related clinical data (onset, duration and comorbidities)
Results: The study recruited 126 participants, 73 (57.9%) of which were females. The median age of the participants was 33.0 (Interquartile range, IQR=22-49.3) years. The highest median score was observed for activity limitation, 4.4 (IQR 3.4-5.1), while the environmental stimuli domain had the lowest score, 3.75 (IQR 2.8-5.0). The overall median AQLQ(S) score was 4.19 (IQR 3.3-4.9) with 120 (95.2%) participants classified as having moderate or severe impairments. Participants aged above 40 years and those with comorbidities were more likely to report severe impairment (p=0.004 and p=0.038, respectively).
Conclusions: Older age and the presence of comorbidities are key correlates of poorer asthma-related quality of life in this primary-care cohort. Effective strategies to improve quality of life in asthma should focus intensively on targeted screening and interventions for those with identified key correlates.
