Prevalence of asthma among 6-7-year old schoolchildren in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren (6-7 years of age) in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire, involving 2,020 schoolchildren from public and private schools in 2010. Results: The prevalences of “wheezing ever”, “wheezing within the last 12 months” (active asthma) and “asthma ever” (physician-diagnosed asthma) were 52.6%, 28.3% and 12.4%, respectively. The prevalences of symptoms associated with asthma severity, such as "speech-limiting wheeze", "four or more wheezing attacks in the last 12 months" and "sleep disturbed due to wheezing one or more nights a week", were, respectively, 4.1%, 3.9% and 6.7%. The rate of "wheezing after exercise" was 7.2%, and that of "night cough" was 39.7%. The prevalences of “wheezing ever” (p<0.001) and active asthma (p=0.04) were higher among males. Public school students presented higher prevalences of "speech-limiting wheezing", “sleep disturbed due to wheezing one or more nights a week" and "wheezing after exercise" (p=0.002, p=0.002 and p=0.003, respectively). Conclusions: This study shows high prevalence of asthma and asthma-related symptoms in schoolchildren aged 6-7 years in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil, above the national average, predominantly among males and public school students. It was also observed that asthma is underdiagnosed in this population.