Prevalence of Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis Among School Children of Karachi, Pakistan, 2007

In recent times, the incidence of allergic diseases, particularly bronchial asthma, has been increasing worldwide. However, there appears to be no published data on the prevalence of allergic diseases among school children (3 to 16 years of age) in Karachi, Pakistan, with only limited data available...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of asthma 2009-01, Vol.46 (1), p.86-90
Main Authors: Hasnain, Syed Muhammad, Khan, Muneeba, Saleem, Asma, Waqar, Muhammad Anwar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Air Conditioning - adverse effects
allergic diseases
Asthma - epidemiology
Asthma - etiology
bronchial asthma
Child
Child, Preschool
Cough - epidemiology
Cough - etiology
Eczema - epidemiology
Eczema - etiology
epidemiology
Female
Humans
Karachi
Male
Pakistan - epidemiology
Prevalence
Respiratory Hypersensitivity - epidemiology
Respiratory Hypersensitivity - etiology
Respiratory Sounds - etiology
Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial - epidemiology
Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial - etiology
Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal - epidemiology
Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal - etiology
Risk Factors
school children
Sex Factors
Smoking - adverse effects
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Summary:In recent times, the incidence of allergic diseases, particularly bronchial asthma, has been increasing worldwide. However, there appears to be no published data on the prevalence of allergic diseases among school children (3 to 16 years of age) in Karachi, Pakistan, with only limited data available among few age groups under one ISAAC study. The objective of this project was to investigate the prevalence of allergic diseases among school children (3 to 16 years of age) in the city of Karachi. The questionnaire that was used for data collection had previously been used for a similar study in neighboring Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. In 2007, a total of 3,000 surveys were distributed in various schools of Karachi, of which 2,325 completed surveys were obtained. SPSS was used to perform statistical analysis on the collected data. Survey results showed that the frequency of diagnosed (previously seen by physicians) cases of asthma stood at 15.8%, while the frequency of allergic rhinitis was found to be 28.50% among these children. Other parameters that were analyzed included dry cough (20.1%), wheezing (11.7%), breathlessness (15.40%), and eczema (21.8%). Furthermore, smoking by family members was found to be associated with asthma (p value less than 0.05), allergic rhinitis (p value less than 0.05), breathlessness (p value less than 0.05), dry cough (p value 0.002), and wheezing (p value less than 0.05). This study reveals that there is a significant number of school children in the metropolitan city of Karachi who have various allergic symptoms. It also sheds light on the fact that exposure to indoor environmental factors as well as family atopy can play a key role in increasing the chances of an individual to experience asthma and other allergy symptoms.
ISSN:0277-0903
1532-4303
DOI:10.1080/02770900802513023