Frequency and Associated Factors of Cor-Pulmonale among Asthma Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study at Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Cor pulmonale, a severe complication of poorly controlled asthma, may involve both adults and children, significantly worsens patient outcomes but remains under-recognized. Its impact on quality of life a survival underscores the need for data on the frequency and risk factors; this study addresses a critical gap aiming to guide early detection and better management strategies. Objective: The current study was conducted to explore the Frequency of Cor-Pulmonale among asthma patients at a tertiary care hospital Material and Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Pulmonology, Khalifa Gul Nawaz Teaching Hospital (KGN), MTI Bannu, a tertiary care Hospital from August 2022 to January 2023. Patients presented with asthma for the last year aged 16-60 years were included in the study while those having existing cardiac diseases were excluded from the study. Cor-Pulmonale data was collected by operational definitions and annotated by the researcher on specifically created Proforma. Data was analyzed through SPSS version 20. After the stratification chi-square test was applied, p =0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Among 134 patients enrolled in the study, 26.1% (29) were found to have cor pulmonale. The mean age of the participants was 37.22±13.29 years. The majority of the participants were male (71.6%) 55.9% were under 40 years of age and 59 (44.0%) patients were above 40 years of age. A family history of asthma was present in 20.1% of cases. Stratification analysis revealed no significant association between cor pulmonale and age, gender, family history, or asthma duration (p >0.05). Conclusion: These findings highlight the notable frequency of cor pulmonale among asthma patients, especially in male and younger populations, irrespective of demographic and clinical characteristics Keywords: Cor-Pulmonale, asthma, pulmonary hypertension, cardiopulmonary complications