title: Prevalence of asthma at school age: a clinical population-based study in eastern Finland.
abstract: A questionnaire aimed at screening and identifying patients with asthmatic symptoms was sent to the parents of 2011 children aged 7 to 12 years; 1633 (81%) returned the questionnaire. A clinical examination was given to 165 symptomatic and 82 non-symptomatic children. The children were classified into three groups: 1, clinical asthma (n = 43); 2, other symptoms from lower airways (OSLA) (n = 34); 3, healthy children (n = 170). The prevalences of asthma and OSLA in the whole source population (n = 1633) were then estimated based on these figures. The lifetime prevalence of asthma was 4.0%. All children with asthma were either symptomatic or on continuous maintenance therapy during the preceding 12 months. The lifetime prevalence of OSLA was 5.0%, with 3.0% being symptomatic during the preceding 12 months. Asthma was more common in boys (5.0%) than in girls (2.8%). The respective figures for OSLA were 6.2 and 3.7%. The occurrence of asthma as well as respiratory symptoms suggestive of asthma was more common than previously observed in this area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Kuopio University Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Remes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Korppi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Remes
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pekkanen
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D003371:Cough / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening