title: Prevalence and factors associated with asthma in students from Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
abstract: We investigated the prevalence of asthma and factors related to asthma development in schoolchildren aged 6 to 14, living in central and peripheral areas of the city of Montes Claros, Minas Gerais and who were registered with the Family Health Strategy program. Initially, a standard written questionnaire, based on ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood), was administered to collect personal data, information regarding income, asthma prevalence, allergic rhinitis and eczema (N = 1,131). Secondly, a case-control study was performed by grouping the patients as either asthmatic (A; N = 172) or non-asthmatic (NA; N = 379). Potential factors associated with the occurrence of asthma were evaluated using the complementary questionnaire from ISAAC phase II. Skin tests for immediate hypersensitivity (STIH) and parasitological tests were also performed. The odds ratio, estimated by multivariate analysis, indicated that asthma cases were related to kindergarten attendance, household smoking, family history of asthma, rhinitis and positive STIH. It was concluded that, in the studied population, the prevalence of asthma was related to genetic predisposition, in addition to individual history, social demographics, exposure to pollutants such as tobacco smoke and a positive response to allergy testing.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiopatologia, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, MG, Brasil, magnaqcoelho@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Magna Adaci de Quadros
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiopatologia, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, MG, Brasil, magnaqcoelho@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lucinéia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Pinho
authors.affiliation: Unimontes, Montes Claros, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Paula Quadros
authors.initials: PQ
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Unimontes, Montes Claros, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Marise Fagundes
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Pediatria, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Dirceu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Solé
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires