The prevalence of childhood asthma in Costa Rica.
Clin Exp Allergy
; 24(12): 1130-6, 1994 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-7889426
The prevalence of asthma in children between the ages of 5 and 17 years in Costa Rica was determined using a large sample (n = 2682). The definition of asthma was based on a combination of a physician's diagnosis and a symptom score, using information from a questionnaire given to the parents. An overall asthma prevalence as high as 23.4% was found. Sex, age, urban/rural location, or rain precipitation did not show any association with the diagnosis of asthma. The presence of smokers in the home was found to be an important risk factor (odds ratio = 1.6). Another identified risk factor was a high yearly average outside temperature, i.e. above 25 degrees C (odds ratio = 1.8). Furthermore, the proportion of children with more than four upper respiratory infections during the preceding year was found to be significantly increased in children with asthma (odds ratio = 4.3). The non-asthma group seemed to use equal amounts of drugs for the treatment of asthma as the asthma group. For a country like Costa Rica with limited economic resources the current work indicates two important issues for consideration in the future; firstly, to try to define the cause(s) of asthma and secondly, to continuously inform the physicians about the best way of diagnosing and treating asthmatic patients to ensure optimal handling of this large patient group.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Asma
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America central
/
Costa rica
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Clin Exp Allergy
Assunto da revista:
ALERGIA E IMUNOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
1994
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de publicação:
Reino Unido