Prevalence of asthma symptoms and atopic disorders in preschool children and the trend over a decade.
OBJECTIVE
Over the last few decades, there have been substantial publications on the prevalence and trends of asthma in school-age children and adolescents. There has been a scarcity of reports on asthma prevalence and trends in preschool children. This study was performed to measure the prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema in preschool (4- and 5-year-old) children and the trend over a decade.


METHODS
A cross-sectional questionnaire based survey using the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) was performed on South Australian preschool children in 2006. The results were compared to a previous survey conducted in 1993.


RESULTS
The 12-month period prevalence of reported wheeze, allergic rhinitis, and eczema was 23.7%, 20.8%, and 18.8%, respectively. The prevalence of wheeze symptoms was higher in males than females. There was a decline in the prevalence of "wheeze in the last 12 months" (25.2% to 23.7%) and in "asthma ever" (22.5% to 19.0%, p < 0.05) from 1993 to 2006.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a burden in the symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema in preschool children. There is a declining trend in the prevalence of "current wheeze" and "asthma ever" in South Australian preschool children over a decade.
Tai
Andrew
A
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. andrew.tai@rch.org.au
Volkmer
Robert
R
Burton
Alexandra
A
D017677:Age Distribution; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004485:Eczema / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013021:South Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires