Prevalence of bronchial asthma in rural Indian children: A cross sectional study from South India

Objective: To determine the prevalence and to study the socio-demographic correlates of bronchial asthma among children aged 6-15 yr. Methods: This is a cross-sectional community based study conducted by interview of parents of randomly selected 559 children using an International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. 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. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of bronchial asthma among children with a higher prevalence among boys than girls. There were significant inverse linear association with increasing age and also with family history of asthma. Efforts should be directed towards screening and early detection among the children, especially those of parents with history of asthma to enable treatment and reduce morbidity.