Prevalence of asthma among Middle Eastern children: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of asthma and allergy has increased during the last decades, especially in children. However, little is known about it in the Middle East region. This systematic review is aimed to estimate the prevalence of asthma among the Middle Eastern children. Methods: Local and international scientific databases including SID, Iranmedex, Medline and Science Direct were systematically searched for relevant keywords including; asthma, prevalence, children, International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISACC) and the names of Middle Eastern countries for the period of 1996-2011. Papers in Persian and English which met the defined criteria were included into the study. Bibliographies of the extracted articles were also searched. After extraction of data, heterogeneity between studies and publication bias were measured using Egger's-test. Effect size was pooled by the random-effect model. Since significant heterogeneity was found between studies, univariate meta-regression analyses were done to assess the association of variables with the overall results. Results: Fifty studies in the Middle East examined the prevalence of asthma and allergy in children under the age of 18 years according to the ISAAC criteria and were included. A total number of 289,717 children were examined in the included studies and the prevalence varied from 0.7 % in Isfahan to 22.3 % in Bagdad. The total prevalence of diagnosed asthma was calculated 7.53 % (95% Cl: 6.38-8.75). Prevalence of asthma in the 13-14 years age group was 7.57% (95% Cl: 5.78-9.29) and in 6-7 years age group was 7.43% (95% Cl: 5.75-9.10). The prevalence of asthma among girls, based on random effect model, was 6.30% (95% Cl: 4.97-7.61) and among boys, it was 8.91% (95% Cl: 6.80-11.04). Conclusion: The prevalence of asthma in the Middle East is lower than most developed countries. However, there is not enough longitudinal data to estimate the trend over time. In order to have more accurate estimates and to provide evidence for proper planning, standard epidemiologic studies should be conducted in countries of the region.

Epidemiology and utilization of primary health care services in Qatar by asthmatic children 5–12 years old: secondary data analysis 2016–2017

“…In some industrialized countries, asthma and related allergies affect more than one-third of the child population [4, 5] although it remains unclear whether these are real term increases in prevalence, the result of a higher level of awareness and better detection rates [4, 6] or a combination of the two. In the Middle East and Arab Gulf countries with rapidly expanding industrial economies over the last three decades, prevalence rates are estimated to be lower than most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.…”

Prevalence of asthma among male 16 to 18-year-old adolescents in the Northern Borders Region of Saudi Arabia

“…Compared to other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease like (COPD), asthma does not result in death, but left untreated and incompliance to treatment can be fatal, and the WHO estimate that380,000 persons died due to asthma in 2015 ( 7 ). In the Middle East, the prevalence of asthma is higher among younger boys and it is present in 7.57% of children aged 13–14 years ( 8 ). Few studies have assessed the prevalence of asthma in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.…”

Risk factors for bronchial asthma among children in Medina city, Saudi Arabia: an ecological approach

“…5 According to the middle east, asthmatic children's prevalence was 7.57%. 6 On the other hand, Bagdad in Iraq had the highest prevalence, which was 22.3%. 7 In conclusion, middle eastern countries had a lower prevalence of asthmatic children than the developed country as in (United Kingdom 25.9%, Australia 31% and Turkey 17.8%), contrarily, middle eastern countries had a higher prevalence of asthma among children in contrast with some developing countries as in India 4.9% and Taiwan 6%.…”