Asthma management among Arabic-speaking migrants and refugees in Australia: a cross-sectional study exploring knowledge, perceptions and resource use

Introduction: Asthma is a significant health issue among Middle Eastern migrants and refugees in Australia. Asthma management can be influenced by limited health literacy, cultural factors and challenges within the healthcare system. Therefore, this study aimed to assess asthma control, perceptions, knowledge and self-management skills among Arabic-speaking migrants and refugees. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Middle Eastern Arabic-speaking participants with asthma (75 migrants, 102 refugees) residing in Australia. The measures included the Asthma Control Test, Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, Asthma Knowledge Test and an inhaler technique assessment to evaluate self-management skills as well as information-seeking behaviours. Results: The asthma control and inhaler technique scores were comparable between refugee and migrant participants. Refugees reported more negative illness perceptions (p=0.005) and were more likely to seek asthma-related information (p=0.043), while migrants had better asthma knowledge (p=0.008). Older age was significantly associated with poorer asthma control (p<0.001), lower asthma knowledge (p=0.003) and more negative illness perceptions (p<0.001). Asthma control was also negatively correlated with illness perception (p<0.001), indicating that poorer asthma control was linked with more negative views about the illness. Conclusions: Although overall asthma control was not significantly different between groups, there were significant differences in knowledge, perceptions and preferred sources of health information. Migrants and refugees may benefit from tailored education and support that address illness perceptions and strengthen asthma self-management skills. Interventions that consider cultural background and literacy levels are recommended to help minimise health disparities in this population.