Time trends in prevalence and severity of childhood asthma and allergies from 1995 to 2002 in France.
OBJECTIVE
To assess time trends in symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema among adolescents in Languedoc Roussillon, France.


METHODS
Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted 7 years apart using the same protocol. School-based samples of 3383 participants in the 1995 survey and 1642 participants in the 2002 survey respectively were recruited.


RESULTS
There was a tendency towards stagnation in current symptoms of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema. Indices related to lifetime diagnosis of asthma, hay fever and eczema increased. For all the conditions, indices of severity also showed a decrease in the 7-year study period.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study shows that symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema were stable, supporting the effectiveness of national asthma prevention and management guidelines for such diseases. The increase in indices related to lifetime diagnosis could be the result of increased public and professional awareness of the diseases and changes in diagnostic labelling in recent years.
Annesi-Maesano
I
I
INSERM, UMR S 707: EPAR, Paris, France.
Mourad
C
C
Daures
J-P
JP
Kalaboka
S
S
Godard
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors