title: Childhood asthma and its relationship with tonsillar tissue.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of asthma among 4-17 years old school children and to determine the relationship between frequent tonsillitis, tonsillar hypertrophy and asthma-related symptoms. A total of 2,000 school children, aged 4-17 years, in Denizli were surveyed using the ISAAC questionnaire; the size of the tonsils was evaluated by physical examination. A total of 1,784 questionnaires were completed giving an overall response rate of 89.2%. The prevalence of lifetime wheezing, 12-month wheezing and lifetime doctor-diagnosed asthma were 16.4%, 6.2% and 1.7%, respectively. The prevalence of frequent tonsillitis and tonsillar hypertrophy were 19.9% and 3.4%, respectively. Tonsillar hypertrophy was positively correlated with a history of frequent tonsillitis. Frequent tonsillitis and tonsillar hypertrophy could be evaluated as risk factors for asthma due to their significant association with asthma-related symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Pamukkale School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Pamukkale, Turkey. aahmetakcay@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akcay
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tamay
authors.forename: Erol
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dağdeviren
authors.forename: Nermin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guler
authors.forename: Ulker
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ones
authors.forename: Cüneyt Orhan
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zencir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D012307:Risk Factors; D014069:Tonsillitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology