A STUDY OF ASPECTS OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND ITS DETERMINANTS AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA TEACHING HOSPITAL, ENUGU, NIGERIA

Abstract

There is a paucity of data on the academic performance of Nigerian children with asthma. In
order to address this gap in knowledge, this study examined aspects of the academic performance
of children with asthma in Enugu, Nigeria with the aim of determining the influence of asthma
on school absence rate, intelligence quotient (IQ) and socio-economic status.
The academic performance, intelligence quotient and school absence rates of 120 children with
asthma (subjects) and that of age-, sex- and socio-economic class- matched children without
asthma (controls) attending primary schools in Enugu metropolis were studied. The overall
academic performance as well as performance in selected key subjects was assessed using scores
achieved in examinations in the 2012/2013 academic year. Intelligence quotient was assessed
using the Draw-A-Person Test (DAPT) while school absence rate was extracted from the class
attendance register. Socio-economic class was ascertained using the classification by Oyedeji
while the level of asthma control in the subjects was assessed using the Childhood Asthma
Control Test (C-ACT).
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for Windows® version 19.0 (IBM Inc
Chicago Illinois USA, 2011) was used for analysis. Descriptive statistics such as mean and
median were obtained for continuous variables while categorical variables were summarized
using frequencies and percentages. The comparison of means of IQ that was normally distributed
was done using Student’s t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) while other variables that
were not normally distributed such as Academic performance and school absence were compared
using the Mann-Whitney U test. Association between categorical variables was determined using
chi-square. Level of significance was set at p < 0.05.
The median (range) overall academic scores for the subjects and controls were 79.04% (36.08% –
99.57%) and 80.01% (50.65% – 97.47%), respectively. The difference was not statistically
significant (U = 6804, p = 0.461). There was also no significant difference in the academic
performance of subjects and controls in selected subjects: – English Language (U = 6408, p =
0.141), mathematics (U = 6633, p = 0.292), science (U = 7074, p = 0.815) and social studies (U
= 6151, p = 0.051). The overall academic performance of subjects with poor asthma control was
not significantly different from that of those with good control (U= 1235, p = 0.486).The
subjects had more days of absence from school (U = 5103, p = < 0.001) compared to controls.
School absence had no significant relationship with academic performance among subjects (x2 =
3.915, d.f = 2, p = 0.141) and controls (x2 = 0.586, d.f = 1, p = 0.444).
The IQ of the subjects (123-28 ± 21.45) did not differ significantly from those of controls
(118.41 ± 19.87; t = 1.826, p = 0.069). There was a significant positive correlation between IQ
and academic performance among both subjects (r = 0.218, p = 0.017) and controls (r = 0.308, p
= 0.001). There was also a significant positive correlation between socio-economic class and
academic performance among the subjects (r = 0.194, p = 0.034) but not for controls (r = -0.122,
p = 0.185). However, multiple regression analysis showed that asthma control had a significant
positive effect on academic performance of the subjects (B = 1.080, p =0.003) while age had a
significant negative effect on academic performance (B = -3.776, p < 0.001). IQ, socio-economic
class and school absence rates had no significant effect on the academic performance of the
subjects
In conclusion, the academic performance of the subjects compares favorably with that of
children without asthma. Asthma control has a significant effect on academic performance of the
subjects but not IQ, socio-economic class or school absence rates.

A STUDY OF ASPECTS OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND ITS DETERMINANTS AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA TEACHING HOSPITAL, ENUGU, NIGERIA