assessing effects of asthma on patients’ functional status and life

assessing effects of asthma on patients’ functional status and life     m arash [1] , msc m shogi [2] , msc m tajvidi [3] , msc    received: 23 april, 2010 accepted: 3 may, 2010    abstract:   background & aims : asthma is an inflammatory disease in respiratory system with ill effects on psychological, social and economic status. this study was conducted to assess of effects of asthma disease on the performance of patients.   materials & methods: this descriptive study included 400 asthma patients in educational hospitals of karaj using simple random sampling method during 2008-2009. data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of two sections that assessed demographic characteristics and functional status (social , economic and psychological status). the data were analysed by spss statistical software.   results: the findings showed that the majority of samples were women, married and non smokers. there was a significant relationship between: age (p=0.00), marital status (p=0.001) psychological status , educational level and social status (p=0.00) , economic status (p= 0.0026) and psychological status (p=0.00) , duration of disease and social status (p=0.049) , history of addiction and psychological status (p=0.049) , asthma severity and social function (p=0.049). but there was no significant correlation between asthma severity and economic, emotional status, sex and hospitalization.   conclusion: it is recommended to evaluate asthma patients function periodically as part of the care.   keywords: asthma , chronic diseases , functional status     address: school of nursing & midwifery, karaj islamic azad university, karaj , iran.   e-mail: mandana_arash@ kiau.ac.ir   [1] instructor of nursing & midwifery faculty, karaj islamic azad university, kara, iran (corresponding author)   [2] instructor of nursing & midwifery faculty, karaj islamic azad university, karaj, iran  [3] instructor of nursing & midwifery faculty, karaj islamic azad university, karaj, iran