Abstract

Background: Prevalence and burden of bronchial asthma have increased throughout time; it could even lead to fatal complications in many of the affected individuals. Optimum care for asthma requires collaborative work between physicians, health-providing facilities, patients, and their families. Misutilization of anti-asthma medications is one of the obstacles to achieving asthma control. This study examines the pattern of utilizing anti-asthma medications at primary healthcare centers from the physician's perspective and determining the most influencing factors for this disease.
Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in September 2018 in Najran city, enrolling all physicians (n = 134) working in primary health care centers, outpatient clinics, emergency departments of hospitals, and private polyclinic centers. An interview-administered questionnaire was used for the study.
Results: More than 92% of asthmatic patients received medication as either a reliever or controller. It is reported that short-acting beta2-agonist agents had the highest (90.30%) use in short-term treatments, while corticosteroid (inhalant) had the highest medication (42.54%) in long-term treatments. Concerning the influence on utilizing anti-asthma medications, it is noted that physician-related factors have a good effect (78.06%) and workplace-related factors have the fair effect (62.23%), while patient-related factors have a bad effect (55.73%). Five demographic factors of primary physicians factors (age, medical specialty, workplace, healthcare
facility, and experience duration) were shown to be important (

Key words: Bronchial asthma, medications, utilising, primary health care, physicians