Sarcouncil Journal of Internal Medicine and Public Health

Abstract: The study was conducted on a clinical sample of 111 children from Iraq, with a study period of 1 year were divided into two parallel groups (55 children with asthma and 56 children as a control group). The results of the statistics showed that there was a significant difference in the prevalence of urinary tract infections (UTIs). The asthma group had an infection rate of 32.7% and the control group 17.9% (p=0.045). The overall mean number of infections was also significantly greater for the asthma group (1.7 episodes vs. 0.9), and the difference in the mean number of infections between the two groups was statistically significant (p=0.022). In the sample, lower socioeconomic status was a risk factor for susceptibility to asthma, and males and older children had a higher rate of recurrent UTI than females and younger children, respectively. Clinical analysis showed a strong positive correlation between the frequency of UTIs and asthma control. Children who did not have good asthma control had a mean of 1.9 infections, while children with good control had a mean of 0.8 infections. When the severity of the disease was analysed, it was found that there was a clear seasonal pattern with a peak in winter (50%) and a marked drop in summer (20%), although there was a small, localised rise in summer, associated with pollen allergy. The data obtained from correlational analysis showed a high positive correlation between the frequency of asthma exacerbations and the incidence of urinary tract infections, with a significant influence of psychological and environmental factors. Family stress (p=0.012), poor air quality (p=0.042), and sleep disturbances (p=0.032) were all found to be associated with an increased risk for these conditions. Lastly, important behavioral risk factors were identified, such as a previous history of antibiotic use (71.4% vs. 12.0%, p=0.001), poor personal hygiene after urination (p=0.001), and irregular personal hygiene (p=0.001), which significantly added to the higher prevalence of UTIs in this age group.