Asthma prevalence among 16- to 18-year-old adolescents in Saudi Arabia using the ISAAC questionnaire

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Mohamad S Al Moamary¹  Mohamad S Al-Hajjaj²  Mohammed O Al Ghobain³ 

[1] College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, P.O. Box 90068, 11321, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: Asthma;    Rhinitis;    Allergic Rhinitis;    Private School;    Asthma Symptom;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-12-239

 received in 2011-10-05, accepted in 2012-03-26,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMost of the studies investigating the prevalence of asthma in various countries have focused on children below the age of 15 years or adults above the age of 18 years. There is limited knowledge concerning the prevalence of asthma in 16- to 18-year-old adolescents. Our objective was to study the prevalence of asthma and associated symptoms in 16- to 18-year-old adolescents in Saudi Arabia.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in secondary (high) schools in the city of Riyadh utilizing the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC) questionnaire tool.ResultsOut of 3073 students (1504 boys and 1569 girls), the prevalence of lifetime wheeze, wheeze during the past 12 months and physician-diagnosed asthma was 25.3%, 18.5% and 19.6%, respectively. The prevalence of exercise-induced wheezing and night coughing in the past 12 months was 20.2% and 25.7%, respectively. The prevalence of rhinitis symptoms in students with lifetime wheeze, physician-diagnosed asthma and exercise-induced wheeze was 61.1%, 59.9% and 57.4%, respectively. Rhinitis symptoms were significantly associated with lifetime wheeze (OR = 2.5, p value < 0.001), physician-diagnosed asthma (OR = 2.2, p < 0.001), and exercise-induced wheeze (OR = 1.9, p value < 0.001).ConclusionsThe prevalence of asthma and associated symptoms in 16- to 18-year-old adolescents in Saudi Arabia is high, although it is within range of reported prevalence rates from various parts of the world.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Al Ghobain et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012