Prevalence of Bronchial Asthma in Rural Indian Children: A Cross Sectional Study From South India

Background: Paediatric asthma is a serious global health problem. It accounts for a large number of lost school days. Furthermore, asthma can considerably impair the child’s social interaction and academic achievement. To determine the prevalence and to study the socio-demographic correlates of bronchial asthma among children aged 6-15 years in the rural field practice area of the department of Community Medicine at KMC, Manipal.

Methods: This is a cross sectional community based study conducted by interview of parents of randomly selected 559 children in the age group of 6 – 15 years using an International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee.

Results: The prevalence of bronchial asthma was found to be 10.3%. The prevalence of asthma was higher among boys (12.1%). There was a significant inverse linear trend with increasing age. A statistically significant association of bronchial asthma with family history of asthma was also observed.

Conclusions:

There is a high prevalence of bronchial asthma among children with a higher prevalence among boys. There were significant inverse linear association with increasing age and also with family history of asthma.