Comparison of the prevalence of asthma among Asian and European children in Southampton.

C D Pararajasingam, L Sittampalam, P Damani, P K Pattemore, S T Holgate

Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton.

BACKGROUND: Primary health care workers have reported an impression that asthma is commoner among Asian than European children, and a cross sectional survey was designed to compare the prevalence in Asian and European children. METHODS: The survey was carried out in children aged 7-11 in eight primary schools in Southampton. Four schools contained predominantly children of European ancestry, two contained predominantly Asian children, and two contained a mixture of ethnic groups. Data were collected by means of parent completed questionnaire on recent asthma symptoms, diagnosis, morbidity, and treatment from 759 European and 274 Asian children. RESULTS: The prevalence of reported wheeze in the previous 12 months was higher among European (19.6%) than Asian children (11.9%), as was the prevalence of a night cough (European 64.2%, Asian 42.3%). Although the prevalence of diagnosed asthma was higher in European (12%) than Asian (6.2%) children, a slightly higher proportion of Asian than European children with current wheeze had visited their doctor (European 66.9%, Asian 78.1%, not significant) or been admitted to hospital for wheezing (European 4.8%, Asian 6.5%) in the previous 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: This study failed to demonstrate a higher prevalence of asthma among Asian than European children in Southampton.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Smeeton, N. C, Rona, R. J, Gregory, J., White, P., Morgan, M. (2007). Parental attitudes towards the management of asthma in ethnic minorities. Arch. Dis. Child. 92: 1082-1087 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Carl, J, Partridge, M R (2004). Crosscultural communication in those with airway diseases. Chronic Respiratory Disease 1: 153-160 [Abstract]  
• Lee, Y.-L., Lin, Y.-C., Hsiue, T.-R., Hwang, B.-F., Guo, Y. L. (2003). Indoor and Outdoor Environmental Exposures, Parental Atopy, and Physician-Diagnosed Asthma in Taiwanese Schoolchildren. Pediatrics 112: e389-389 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cane, R S, McKenzie, S A (2001). Parents' interpretations of children's respiratory symptoms on video. Arch. Dis. Child. 84: 31-34 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cane, R S, Ranganathan, S C, McKenzie, S A (2000). What do parents of wheezy children understand by "wheeze"?. Arch. Dis. Child. 82: 327-332 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• PARTRIDGE, M R (2000). In what way may race, ethnicity or culture influence asthma outcomes?. Thorax 55: 175-176 [Full Text]  
• Moudgil, H, Marshall, T, Honeybourne, D (2000). Asthma education and quality of life in the community: a randomised controlled study to evaluate the impact on white European and Indian subcontinent ethnic groups from socioeconomically deprived areas in Birmingham, UK. Thorax 55: 177-183 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Moudgil, H, Honeybourne, D (1998). Differences in asthma management between white European and Indian subcontinent ethnic groups living in socioeconomically deprived areas in the Birmingham (UK) conurbation. Thorax 53: 490-494 [Abstract] [Full Text]