Asthma, Rhinitis, Other Respiratory Diseases: Rapid PublicationIs the prevalence of adult asthma and allergic rhinitis still increasing? Results of an Italian study☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Study protocol
The survey was performed in 3 centers of northern Italy, Turin, Pavia, and Verona, located in the plain of the Po river and characterized by a temperate climate. Turin is a large urban area (909,717 residents in 1998) with large manufacturing industries, Pavia is a smaller town (74,290 inhabitants) in the middle of a farming area, and Verona is a middle-size town (254,712 residents) involved in tourism and services.
In the previous survey (ECRHS, 1991 to 1993), probability samples of the general
Results
As shown in Fig 1, the crude prevalence of asthma attacks and asthma-like symptoms remained rather stable from the first to the second survey; more precisely, the prevalence of asthma attacks, chest tightness, and shortness of breath slightly decreased, whereas the prevalence of wheezing
Discussion
The main results of the present survey are as follows: (1) In the overall young adult population, the prevalence of asthma attacks and asthma-like symptoms has not increased during the 1990s in Italy. (2) However, when considering age classes separately, a generational effect emerged because asthma-like symptom prevalence tended to decrease in older subjects (32.5 to 45 years) and to increase in younger subjects (20 to 26.2 years). (3) The prevalence of self-reported allergic rhinitis has
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Supported by Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), University of Verona; GlaxoSmithKline Italia; National Health Service, AUSL Pavia; National Health Service, ASL 4 Turin; IRCCS San Matteo; Pavia Province; Veneto Region.
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Reprint requests: Giuseppe Verlato, PhD, Sezione di Epidemiologia e Statistica Medica, Istituti Biologici 2, Strada Le Grazie 8, 37134 Verona, Italy.