title: The Global Asthma Network rationale and methods for Phase I global surveillance: prevalence, severity, management and risk factors.
abstract: The Global Asthma Network (GAN), established in 2012, followed the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). ISAAC Phase One involved over 700 000 adolescents and children from 156 centres in 56 countries; it found marked worldwide variation in symptom prevalence of asthma, rhinitis and eczema that was not explained by the current understanding of these diseases; ISAAC Phase Three involved over 1 187 496 adolescents and children (237 centres in 98 countries). It found that asthma symptom prevalence was increasing in many locations especially in low- and middle-income countries where severity was also high, and identified several environmental factors that required further investigation.GAN Phase I, described in this article, builds on the ISAAC findings by collecting further information on asthma, rhinitis and eczema prevalence, severity, diagnoses, asthma emergency room visits, hospital admissions, management and use of asthma essential medicines. The subjects will be the same age groups as ISAAC, and their parents. In this first global monitoring of asthma in children and adults since 2003, further evidence will be obtained to understand asthma, management practices and risk factors, leading to further recognition that asthma is an important non-communicable disease and to reduce its global burden.
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand p.ellwood@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Philippa
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1994-4023
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ellwood
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: M Innes
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Asher
authors.affiliation: Joensuu, Finland.
authors.forename: Nils E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Billo
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), Paris, France.|School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bissell
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.|Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Dept of Internal Medicine, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chen-Yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Eamon M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ellwood
authors.affiliation: Epidemiological Laboratory (Epi-Lab) for Public Health, Research and Development, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Asma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-Sony
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Allergy and Pulmonology Units, Arrixaca University Children's Hospital, University of Murcia and IMIB Bioresearch Institute, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: García-Marcos
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Hospital-CRS El Pino, University of Santiago de Chile, (USACH), Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mallol
authors.affiliation: Dept of Medical Statistics, Respiratory and Environmental Epidemiology, South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Guy B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Neil E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.affiliation: Population Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Strachan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004485:Eczema / Q000208:ethnology; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires