Is the prevalence of asthma and related symptoms among Brazilian children related to socioeconomic status?
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and the prevalence of asthma and related symptoms among Brazilian children.


METHODS
The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) written questionnaire was applied to 23,457 six- to seven-year-old schoolchildren (SC) and 58,144 thirteen- to fourteen-year-old adolescents (AD) from 20 Brazilian cities. SES was evaluated by infant mortality index, poverty index, and average nominal income for people older than 10 years of age.


RESULTS
Current asthma ranged from 16.5% to 31.2% among SC and from 11.8% to 30.5% among AD and severe asthma from 2.9% to 8.5% (SC) and 2.6% to 9.1% (AD). Higher values were observed in Brazilian-Northern, -Northeastern and -Southeastern centers. No significant association between SES and prevalence of asthma and related symptoms was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
In Brazil, the prevalence of asthma and related symptoms is quite variable and independent of SES.
Solé
Dirceu
D
Division of Allergy, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. dirceus@ajato.com.br
Camelo-Nunes
Inês Cristina
IC
Wandalsen
Gustavo F
GF
Mallozi
Márcia C
MC
Naspitz
Charles K
CK
D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires