title: Prevalence of asthma: a comparative study of urban and rural Xhosa children.
abstract: An epidemiological study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of asthma in young urban and rural black (Xhosa) children. One thousand three hundred and seventy five children were studied, 694 from a Cape Town african township and 671 from a rural area in Transkei. The exercise tolerance test which required free range running at maximum effort for 6 min was used to identify asthmatic subjects. A fall of 15% or more in the post-exercise FEV1 and PEFR values was regarded as a positive result. Twenty-three children were found to be asthmatic, twenty-two from the city area, but only one from the country, giving a prevalence figure for asthma of 3.17% in the first group and 0.14% for the second. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed. The exercise tolerance test was found to be a useful tool for epidemiological studies of asthma.
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001250:Asthma, Exercise-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D012423:Rural Health; D013019:South Africa; D014504:Urban Health