Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of asthma, rhinitis, and atopic eczema in schoolchildren from southern Brazil. A cross-sectional study was carried out with the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood phase III written questionnaire. The questionnaire was self-applied by 2,948 randomly selected schoolchildren aged 13 to 14 years. The lifetime prevalence rates of symptoms were as follows: wheezing, 40.8%; rhinitis, 40.7%; eczema, 13.6%; self-reported asthma, 14.6%; rhinitis, 31.4%; eczema, 13.4%. Rhinitis was reported by 55% of adolescents with current asthma (60% females vs 46.9% males). Girls 13 to 14 years of age had higher prevalence rates of asthma, rhinitis, and eczema than boys had. Atopic eczema was reported by 42.7% of girls and 31.4% of boys with asthma. The prevalence rates were statistically significant for symptoms of asthma, rhinitis, and atopic eczema in females. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the sexes in regard to reported asthma and bronchospasm induced by exercise.
Highlights
The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of asthma, rhinitis, and atopic eczema in schoolchildren from southern Brazil
Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain this increase, such as better recognition of the disease, an increasing number of doctors, and environmental factors. It may be explained by differences between research methods, which implies that epidemiologic studies on asthma need be standardized for temporal and international comparisons
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of asthma, rhinitis, and atopic eczema and to investigate the relationship between rhinitis and eczema with severe asthma in school-aged adolescents living in the city of Passo Fundo in southern Brazil, an agricultural region, as part of an ISAAC phase III project
Summary
The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of asthma, rhinitis, and atopic eczema in schoolchildren from southern Brazil. Girls 13 to 14 years of age had higher prevalence rates of asthma, rhinitis, and eczema than boys had. The prevalence rates were statistically significant for symptoms of asthma, rhinitis, and atopic eczema in females. Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain this increase, such as better recognition of the disease, an increasing number of doctors, and environmental factors (namely, changes in lifestyle and urbanization in industrialized countries) It may be explained by differences between research methods, which implies that epidemiologic studies on asthma need be standardized for temporal and international comparisons. For ages 13 to 14 years, the prevalence rate varies from 4.8 to 27.1%.8
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