Prevalence of asthma and associated factors among schoolchildren in rural South India

Abstract

In the present study, the prevalence of questionnaire-diagnosed asthma in the study group was 4.9%. Of the total number of schoolchildren with asthma, 17 (58.6%) were detected who had not been diagnosed previously. One third of the children with asthma had visited emergency departments in the last 12 months, indicative of poor asthma control. Another third suffered limitation of activity at home and or at school, which could indicate poor quality of life.

Prevalence of Asthma in School going Children of Semi-Urban Area in the State of Madhya Pradesh

“…11,14,16,18,20,21 A significant association was found between history of allergy and asthma in the present study. Similar findings has been reported in the study by Dhabadi et al 6 History of cough without cold was strongly associated with asthma by both multivariate and univariate analysis, which shows similarities with other studies. 4,16,19 Other studies have also shown association of asthma with passive smoking, pets at home, environmental tobacco smoke, absence of smoke outlet 10,13,16,21 which has not been found statistically significant in this study.…”

“…Similar are the prevalence rates of asthma in school children in the study quoted by Chhabra et al 11 (15.7%) and in an another study by Mistry 17 ( 12.5%). Various studies on asthma in school children show variation in prevalence in rural and urban areas, 4,6,10,14,15,18,19 the prevalence being higher in urban children. This may be due to urban air pollution because of industries, automobiles, allergens etc.…”

“…Diagnosis of asthma is often missed or delayed due to the dynamic nature of the disease, unreliable past history or poor documentation of past episodes or lack of specific and relative diagnostic investigation. 6 Children with poorly controlled, untreated or under diagnosed asthma can have problems, as exercise induced bronco spasm (EIB) can leave them breathless and unable to participate or sometimes it could be dangerous. 3 In this regard training of the school teachers with health guides may be one of the most important strategies for promotion of school health.…”

Prevalence of asthma among Middle Eastern children: A systematic review

“…However, it is higher than some developing countries like Tibet area in China (1.1%), (35) India (4.9%) (36) and Taiwan (6%) (37). …”

“…In Japan prevalence of asthma was higher in boys (6%) than girls (4%) (38). In Turkey, the prevalence of asthma in boys (19.4%) is slightly higher than girls (16.2%) (34) similar to Nigeria, South Korea, and India (36,39,40). …”