title: [Frequency of risk factors in bronchial asthma in various regions of Italy. Collaborating group ISRDCE (Italian Studies of Respiration Disorders in Childhood and the Environment)].
abstract: Many risk factors, both individual and environmental, are associated to asthma. In this paper the frequency distribution of various asthma risk factors in different geographical areas in Italy is provided. Data come from S.I.D.R.I.A.--Italian Studies on Respiratory Disorders in Childhood and the Environment--a collaborative research project which involved 18,737 children in the first two levels of primary school and 21,410 adolescents in the third class of the secondary school. The study population was distributed in ten areas in Central and North Italy with different geographic, environmental and demographic conditions. Information was provided by the parents of the children in the primary school and by both parents and adolescents in the secondary school through ad hoc questionnaires; the response rate was very high (94.4%). Risk factors are unevenly distributed in the study areas. The prevalence of bronchitis in the first two years of life is 18.1% in Siena but it is 31.3% in Cremona; the frequency of moquette in the bed room range from 8.6% in Viterbo to 29.8% in Trento as well as the presence of a cat in the house in the first two years of life involves 7.4% of study subjects in Roma and 21.2% in Siena. Maternal smoking during pregnancy is quite infrequent in Empoli (8.1%) but much more common in Milano (17.7%). In Trento 6.3% of the study subjects live in a house facing a busy road whilst in Milano the same proportion is 30.5%. Reported differences can be of value in promoting and evaluating asthma prevention programs.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D004485:Eczema / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors
vernacular_title: La frequenza dei fattori di rischio per l'asma bronchiale in varie aree italiane. Gruppo Collaborativo S.I.D.R.I.A. (Studi Italiani sui Disturbi Respiratori nell'Infanzia e l'Ambiente).