Prevalence and severity of asthmatic symptoms in Grenadian school children: the Grenada National Asthma Survey.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of asthma in school children in the tri-island Caribbean nation of Grenada.
This was a self-report study provided to the guardians of all primary school children between ages 6 and 7 throughout Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique in 2013. Of the 2362 surveys provided, 1374 were returned, resulting in a response rate of 58.2%. Only responders listing birthdays between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2007 were included in the analysis, resulting in 1165 qualifying responders. Asthma diagnosis was based on previous physician diagnosed asthma and/or self-reported presence of wheeze in the past 12 months (current wheeze). Severity of asthma, medication usage, environmental exposures, physician and emergency department visits were compared among respondents.


RESULTS
The prevalence of wheezing in the past year was 30.5±1.8%, and of these 68.4% were previously diagnosed with asthma. Of the current wheeze participants, 39.9±9.2% reported moderate to severe asthma symptoms and increased exposure to cigarette smoke, excessive dust, burning brush and landfills. Carriacou and Petite Martinique, the two smaller islands, had a lower incidence of current wheeze (14.1±7.7%) and exposure rates to cigarette smoke and burning brush as compared to the larger, denser island of Grenada. Although 65.7% of respondents diagnosed with asthma reported taking medication, the number of annual doctor and emergency department visits were high (2.82 and 0.86, respectively). Respondents with the most severe asthma symptoms reported the most emergency department visits with an average of 1.05 visits annually, whereas respondents with moderate asthma symptoms had the most doctor visits with an average of 3.33 visits annually.


CONCLUSIONS
This study indicates that the prevalence of childhood asthma in Grenada is very high and warrants policy consideration in public health and education to decrease its morbidity.
Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies.
D
D
Thongkham
Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies.
J
J
Tran
Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies.
M T
MT
Clunes
Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies.
F
F
Brahim
D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D019425:Grenada / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index