[Rhinitis and asthma as a cause of absenteeism and poor work/school performance in a population from Latin-American tropic].

BACKGROUND

Asthma and rhinitis are the most frequent chronic respiratory diseases. Their high impact is associated with the loss of working days, as well as a decrease in academic performance.

OBJECTIVE

To assess and compare the impact of rhinitis and asthma as causes of absenteeism and low work performance in a population of children and adults.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

A cross sectional study was performed in 10 schools of two cities in Colombia. The student population between 6 to 17 years, as well as the faculty staff over 18 were invited to participate. All of the participants filled a questionnaire assessing parameters related to clinical background, and a review of scores in Math and Spanish, curriculum vitae and number of missed day during the last academic period completed was performed.

RESULTS

A total of 1,413 participants were enrolled. The frequency of asthma and/or rhinitis was 36%, there was a greater frequency of absenteeism in the population of children with respiratory symptoms (2.8 vs 1.2 days/year/patient, p<0.01) and there was both a lower academic (failure in 17% vs 9%, p<0.05) and work performance (0.43 vs 0.27, p<0.05) in the symptomatic population. We observed that those patients with good adherence to pharmacologic treatment displayed lower absenteeism and an improved performance.

CONCLUSION

Both rhinitis and asthma are associated with lower performance in children and adults and absenteeism in the school; however, adequate treatment may improve clinical control and reduce backlash against job performance.