Prevalence of Asthma Symptoms in 7th- and 8th-Grade School Children in a Rural Region in India

We estimated the prevalence of asthma related symptoms in grade 7 and 8 students in a rural region in India. Method. An International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), questionnaire with added questions related to environmental and familial exposures, was administered to 3668 students from 48 rural schools near Malegaon, India. Results. A history of asthma was present in 10.7% students and 7.3% wheezed in the past 12 months, with about one-third having at least four attacks. Boys had the higher prevalence of all asthma-related symptoms than girls did, and symptom frequency was generally above the median reported for urban Indian ISAAC centers. Asthma and wheeze were associated with a family history of asthma, smoking, and frequent chest colds. Significant environmental factors included parental occupation and smoking and poor water sources. Increased odds of asthma occurred in students working for wages, exposed to animals, or eating in the kitchen. Relationships were similar for wheezing. Both asthma and wheeze were higher in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) group. Most markers of socioeconomic status and environmental exposure were not significant in multivariate analysis. Conclusion. The prevalence of asthma and wheeze in a rural region in India was similar to that found in the urban ISAAC study; it was higher in students from lower socioeconomic groups with poorer environmental conditions.