Net change in prevalence (%) of wheeze, asthma and nasal allergies/hay fever (prevalence at ECRHS III minus prevalence at ECRHS I); (adjusted for non-response) by generalised estimating equations and combined by random effects meta-analysis across countries and stratified by gender, age at baseline, presence of hay fever/nasal allergies at baseline, asthma treatment and smoking status
| Wheeze | Wheeze—no cold | Wheeze with shortness of breath | Asthma attack | Asthma medication | Hay fever/nasal allergies | ||
| Gender | Male | −2.6 (−4.2 to −1.1) | −1.7 (−3.0 to −0.4) | 0.2 (−0.9 to 1.3) | 0.2 (−0.5 to 0.9) | 2.5 (1.7–3.4) | 2.3 (0.5–4.0) |
| Female | −1.9 (−3.6 to −0.3) | −1.3 (−2.6 to −0.1) | 0.2 (−0.5 to 0.8) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 3.9 (2.8–5.0) | 3.7 (2.0–5.4) | |
| Age group | <35 | −2.6 (−4.1 to −1.1) | −1.8 (−3.1 to −0.6) | 0.9 (−0.4 to 2.2) | 0.9 (0.2–1.5) | 3.0 (2.2–3.8) | 3.9 (2.5–5.3) |
| (Baseline) | 35+ | −1.9 (−3.5 to −0.4) | −1.0 (−2.2 to 0.3) | −0.2 (−0.6 to 0.2) | 0.2 (−0.5 to 0.9) | 3.9 (2.7–5.2) | 0.8 (−0.7 to 2.2) |
| Nasal allergies* | No | −1.5 (−2.9 to 0.0) | −0.3 (−1.6 to 1.1) | 1.8 (0.9–2.7) | 1.2 (0.8 – 1.7) | 3.7 (2.8–4.6) | – |
| Yes | −6.1 (−9.4 to −2.9) | −5.7 (−8.3 to −3.2) | −3.7 (−6.7 to −0.7) | −1.5 (−3.1 to 0.1) | 3.5 (1.6–5.4) | – | |
| Smoking* | Never | −0.1 (−2.2 to 1.9) | 0.6 (−1.2 to 2.3) | 0.4 (−0.9 to 1.8) | 0.2 (−0.6 to 0.9) | 3.4 (2.1–4.7) | 2.1 (−0.3 to 4.5) |
| Ex → Ex | 5.3 (−4.1 to 14.7) | −0.1 (−2.2 to 2.0) | −0.6 (−2.6 to 1.5) | 0.8 (−0.9 to 2.5) | 2.4 (1.1–3.7) | 3.1 (0.6–5.6) | |
| Current →Ex | −12.2 (−16.0 to −8.5) | −7.4 (−11.4 to −3.3) | 0.6 (−1.8 to 3.0) | 1.1 (−0.4 to 2.7) | 5.1 (3.5–6.7) | 3.8 (0.4–7.2) | |
| Current → Current | 1.0 (−2.6 to 4.7) | 0.0 (−3.7 to 3.7) | 2.5 (−0.4 to 5.4) | 3.3 (−0.8 to 7.4) | 4.6 (1.8–7.4) | 3.8 (−0.9 to 8.6) | |
| Asthma medication | Never | −2.9 (−4.1 to 1.7) | −1.6 (−2.9 to −0.4) | 0.3 (−0.6 to 1.2) | −0.0 (−0.3 to 0.3) | – | 2.7 (1.6–3.9) |
| Ever | 0.8 (−3.9 to 5.5) | −1.4 (−7.3 to 4.5) | 6.6 (−2.9 to 16.1) | 4.6 (0.2–9.0) | – | 1.5 (−2.5 to 5.6) |
*Meta-analyses conducted by country to allow comparison of groups.
Numbers are in bold if p<0.05.
ECRHS, European Community Respiratory Health Survey.