Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2022 Aug 28;18(1):79. doi: 10.1186/s13223-022-00720-z.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema have been identified as the most prevalent childhood allergic diseases. However, the prevalence of these allergic diseases can vary in different regions within a country and in the world.
METHODS: The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema in schoolchildren in the Kandy and Anuradhapura districts of Sri Lanka. This was a multicentre cross sectional study carried out among children of age 6-7 years and 13-14 years attending state schools fulfilling the entry criteria of the Global Asthma Network Phase 1 study methodology.
RESULTS: A total of 3673 children of 6-7 years and 4658 children of 13-14 years were recruited. The prevalence of current asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema were 12% (CI 10.44-13.75), 15.7% (CI 13.94-17.64) and 9.7% (CI 8.30-11.31) among 6-7 years age group and 15.3% (CI 13.66-17.09), 30.5% (CI 28.86-32.74) and 7.3% (CI 6.15-8.65) respectively among the 13-14 age group in Kandy district. The reported prevalence rates of the disease conditions were 9.9% (CI 8.72-11.22), 10.1% (CI 8.90-11.44) and 5.9% (CI 4.98-6.98) among 6-7 years age group and 14.9% (CI 13.67-16.22), 22.5% (CI 21.04-24.03) and 1.8% (CI 1.38-2.34) in the 13-14 years age group in Anuradhapura district. When comparing these prevalence rates, there is relatively a higher prevalence of childhood allergic diseases in Kandy district. This difference is statistically significant in all three allergic disease conditions (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Prevalence of allergic diseases in Anuradhapura is closer to reported data in the previous studies. There is relatively higher prevalence of childhood allergic diseases among children in Kandy district.
PMID:36031628 | DOI:10.1186/s13223-022-00720-z
