Prevalence and Occupational and Environmental Risk Factors of Self-Reported Asthma: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Survey in Seven Chinese Cities.
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. However, few data on occupational and environmental risk factors of asthma are available, particularly in Asian adults. Based on a national cross-sectional survey, we assessed the prevalence and risk factors of asthma in Chinese adults.



A total of 9974 participants aged 15 years and over in seven Chinese cities were selected using a stratified four-stage random sampling. All participants were interviewed face-to-face in their homes using a standardized self-administered questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were adopted to determine various risk factors for asthma.



The prevalence of self-reported lifetime asthma was 2.46% among the entire adult population, 3.02% among males and 1.93% among females. The prevalence varied by age group, ethnicity, marital status, education, and floor space per person (p< 0.05). After adjusting for socio-demographic variables and smoking, we found independent occupational and environmental determinants of asthma, including a clearance-related job (OR = 2.28, 95%CI: 1.07-4.89), occupational exposure to industrial or occupational poisonous gas (OR = 4.21, 95%CI: 2.43-7.30), having large amounts of carpet in the workplace (OR = 2.61, 95%CI: 1.20-5.69) and using coal for cooking (OR = 2.65, 95%CI: 1.26-5.57).



Asthma is a serious public health problem in China. Our study provides important updated information on the prevalence of asthma and its associated risk factors, which may help us better understand the epidemiology of asthma and prevent this disorder.
Otorhinolaryngology Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China. fuqingl@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
Qing-Ling
QL
Fu
State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Department of Biostatistics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. duyue0524@163.com.
Yue
Y
Du
Otorhinolaryngology Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China. entxgfess@163.com.
Geng
G
Xu
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumchi 830054, China. hzhang1106@163.com.
Hua
H
Zhang
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China. chenglei@jsph.org.cn.
Lei
L
Cheng
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China. ent-xh@163.com.
Yan-Jun
YJ
Wang
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun 130033, China. zhudongdong2002@hotmail.com.
Dong-Dong
DD
Zhu
Department of Otolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100032, China. lili20020615@sina.com.
Wei
W
Lv
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, West China Hospital of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China. liusx999@163.com.
Shi-Xi
SX
Liu
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Affiliated Huai'an First People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Huai'an 223300, China. lpzent310@163.com.
Pei-Zhong
PZ
Li
Otorhinolaryngology Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China. tsjbent@163.com.
Jian-Bo
JB
Shi
State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Department of Biostatistics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. ouchunquan@hotmail.com.
Chun-Quan
CQ
Ou
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002947:Cities / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
China; asthma; occupational and environmental risk factors; prevalence