Prevalence and Risk Factors of Asthma and Allergy-Related Diseases among Adolescents (PERFORMANCE) study: rationale and methods

Abstract

Despite a considerable number of international reports on allergic diseases among children, information about the prevalence and risk factors of asthma and allergy-related diseases among Indian adolescents is relatively sparse. The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Asthma and Allergy-Related Diseases among Adolescents (PERFORMANCE) study has been conceived to study the aetiology of asthma and allergic diseases including rhinoconjunctivitis, atopic eczema and food allergies among adolescents in West Bengal, India, using standardised methods and collaborations. The aims of the study are: 1) to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of asthma and allergic diseases among the adolescents residing in rural, suburban and urban areas of West Bengal; 2) to obtain information about the possible role of lifestyle factors (smoking, diet and physical activity) on the disease prevalence; and 3) to create a network for further investigation on social, environmental and genetic factors affecting the diseases. The PERFORMANCE study comprises two phases. The phase I study will investigate the prevalence and possible contributing factors of asthma and allergic diseases in a defined population. The phase II study will be performed as a follow-up of phase I to assess the incidence of asthma and allergic diseases.

Individual circadian preference (chronotype) is associated with asthma and allergic symptoms among adolescents

“…We analysed data on 1684 Indian adolescents (aged between 13 and 14 years) from the Prevalence and Risk Factors of Asthma and Allergy-Related Diseases among Adolescents (PERFORMANCE) study [ 9 ]. The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Allergy & Asthma Research Centre, Kolkata (CREC-AARC-04/2016).…”

“…The details of the study design, methodologies and ethical concerns have been described elsewhere [ 9 ]. Briefly, we administered an English-back Bengali translated version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase III questionnaire among students of the specified age group of 16 randomly selected schools of West Bengal to obtain information about respiratory symptoms (namely wheeze, rhinitis, rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma).…”

Spatial Patterns in the Association between the Prevalence of Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Socioeconomic and Climate Indicators in a Mediterranean Region

“…The origin of asthma is not totally known. Its relationship with allergen exposure, environmental tobacco smoke, obesity, dietary habits, family size, and access to health, among others, has been demonstrated (Bhattacharjee et al, 2018). However, other factors have not been clari ed yet.…”

Chronotype assessment of the Bengalese adolescents: an observational study using a Bengali version of the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ)

“…Based on an a priori evidence of the minimum inter-item correlation coefficient of 0.194 between two items of the rMEQ questionnaires (Loureiro & Garcia-Marques, 2015), and with an alpha risk of 0.05 and a beta-risk of 0.20 in a two-sided test, and assuming a 15% non-response rate, we randomly selected 486 Bengali-speaking adolescent (aged between 13 and 14 years) students from the Prevalence and Risk Factors of Asthma and Allergy-Related Diseases among Adolescents (PERFORMANCE) Study pool. The selection and recruitment criteria of the participants in the main study have been described elsewhere (Bhattacharjee et al 2018). However, we observed only 3% non-responsiveness and finally selected a total of 471 adolescents (male=268, female=203).…”