Reference | Age | Non-asthmatics | Asthmatics | Relative risk | % of cases attributable to atopy | Definition of asthma | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Atopy (%) | No. | Atopy (%) | ||||||||||||
Studies exclusively or predominantly in children | |||||||||||||||
Gergenet al 21 | 6–17 | 5505 | 21 | 395 | 45 | 3.1 | 30 | Diagnosis or frequent wheezing | |||||||
Burrows et al 4 | 6–34 | 994 | 44 | 89 | 79 | 4.8 | 63 | “Asthma” + symptoms | |||||||
Sears et al 22 | 13 | 399 | 35 | 315 | 57 | 2.5 | 34 | Clinical examination | |||||||
Norrman et al 23 | 14 | 887 | 401-150 | 110 | 66 | 2.5 | 40 | Ever asthma | |||||||
Von Mutius et al 24 | 9–111-151 | 4756 | 37 | 274 | 69 | 3.8 | 51 | Diagnosis with current symptoms | |||||||
9–121-152 | 2523 | 18 | 100 | 40 | 3.0 | 27 | Diagnosis with current symptoms | ||||||||
Martinez et al 25 | 6 | 442 | 35 | 187 | 56 | 2.3 | 32 | Persistent or late onset wheeze | |||||||
Brooke et al 26 | 4–9 | 220 | 26 | 54 | 54 | 3.3 | 38 | Current wheeze | |||||||
Sporik et al 27 | 12–14 | 53 | 64 | 67 | 73 | 1.5 | 25 | Respiratory symptoms | |||||||
Remes and Korppi28 | 7–12 | 204 | 46 | 43 | 77 | 3.8 | 57 | Clinical examination | |||||||
Studies exclusively or predominantly in adults | |||||||||||||||
Burrowset al 4 | 35–54 | 498 | 40 | 47 | 72 | 3.9 | 53 | Asthma with symptoms | |||||||
55+ | 928 | 23 | 101 | 40 | 2.2 | 22 | Asthma with symptoms | ||||||||
Mensinga et al 29 1-153 | 17–49 | 2711 | 26 | 94 | 46 | 2.4 | 27 | Asthma attacks ever | |||||||
Sparrow et al 30 1-154 | 41–86 | 598 | 23 | 28 | 29 | 1.4 | 8 | Adult onset wheeze | |||||||
Wüthrich et al 31 | 18–60 | 7789 | 211-150 | 568 | 56 | 4.8 | 44 | Diagnoses | |||||||
Settipane et al 32 1-154 | 40–42 | 654 | 35 | 36 | 56 | 2.4 | 32 | Asthma attacks | |||||||
Bodner et al 33 | 39–45 | 217 | 45 | 102 | 55 | 1.5 | 18 | Adult onset wheeze | |||||||
Siracusa et al 34 | 0–69 | 783 | 19 | 41 | 63 | 7.3 | 55 | Current diagnosed asthma |
↵1-150 Estimated.
↵1-151 West Germany.
↵1-152 East Germany.
↵1-153 Atopy definition based on skin prick index (no. of positive reactions × size of weals).
↵1-154 Prospective study, age at end of follow up.
All studies are based on a source population of at least 600 subjects but some prevalence case-control studies involve smaller numbers of cases and controls.