Prevalence of asthma and wheezing illnesses in Barbadian school children: the Barbados national asthma and allergy study

ABSTRACT

In Barbados, there has been a fourfold increase in the number of asthmatic visits to the Accident and Emergency department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital between 1980 and 1994. However, there are no data on the prevalence of asthma in Barbados. This study was done to determine the prevalence of childhood asthma using the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaires. Questionnaires were distributed to parents of 3,894 pupils (age group 6-7 years) in all 91 primary schools in Barbados, and 3,500 questionnaires were completed by pupils (age 13-14 years) in all 46 secondary schools. The data analysis was carried out by Systems Caribbean Limited utilising SPSS. In the 6-7 years olds, the prevalence of self-reported asthma was 16.8 percent with doctor diagnosed asthma of 16.5 percent wheeze had occurred at some time in 30.7 percent and in the previous 12 months in 18.3 percent. In the 13-14 year-olds, self reported asthma was 17 percent, doctor diagnosed asthma 15.9 percent, wheeze occurring at some time was 30.1 percent and wheeze in the previous 12 months was 17.7 percent. Of the 6-7 year-olds, of those who wheezed in the previous 12 months, 78 percent had 1-3 attacks, 18.5 percent had 4-12 attacks and 3.5 percent had more than 12 attacks. In the 13-14 year-olds, 76.5 percent had 1-3 attacks in the previous 12 months, 18.2 percent had 4-12 attacks, 5.3 percent had more than 12 attacks. There was no difference in frequency of smokers in the household between those who wheezed in the previous 12 months and those who never wheezed. Overall, wheezing was more frequent in boys than in girls. The prevalence of asthma in Barbados is high for a tropical island with relatively little atmospheric pollution. The increase has coincided with increasing affluence and trend toward urbanisation and modernisation of the domestic environment.(AU)