Health care education, delivery, and qualityAsthma cases attributable to atopy: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Section snippets
Data
Data were obtained from NHANES III, a complex survey designed to represent the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States. Questionnaires were administered to and medical examinations and laboratory tests conducted on 31,311 individuals age 2 months to 90 years. A subsample of 12,106 subjects consisting of all subjects age 6 to 19 years and a random half-sample of subjects age 20 to 59 years were selected for allergy skin testing.
Allergy skin testing and atopy
A panel of 10 allergens and 2 controls
Prevalence of asthma
The prevalence of asthma in the US population age 6 to 59 years was 5.2%. Of the subject characteristics evaluated, the prevalence of asthma differed significantly by race-ethnicity (P < .01) and body mass index (P = .03) (Table I). For race-ethnicity, asthma was most prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks, and for body mass index (BMI), asthma was most prevalent among persons categorized as obese. As categorized, there was no statistical difference by age (P = .06); however, the prevalence of
Discussion
In the US population age 6 to 59 years, 56.3% of current asthma cases were attributable to atopy, as measured by a positive skin test response to any of 10 allergens. The PAR was significantly greater among males than females, among persons in the highest education category than in lower education categories, and among persons living in highly populated metropolitan areas than in all other areas.
The PAR estimate for the US population is higher than the PAR reported in several studies. In the
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Supported by the Intramural Research Programs of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institutes of Health.
Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: B. Vaughn is employed by Rho, Inc. The rest of the authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.