Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic disease affecting children. The recent rise in prevalence of asthma was associated with environmental pollution, urbanization, and the change in demography. The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of asthma in Tumakuru urban school children and to study its association with different epidemiological factors. Our study is a questionnaire-based study [International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)-Questionnaire] carried out in four randomly selected rural schools of Tumakuru district.
Material and Methods: The questionnaires were distributed among 2031 children and asked to return on next day. These questionnaires were given standard scores to diagnose asthma. Other epidemiological factors were also recorded in the questionnaire and studied. The statistical analysis was done using MSTAT software. Chi-square test was used to get the p-value. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Prevalence of asthma in our study was 3.1% (n=63). We found significant association between asthma prevalence and family history of allergic disorders and high socio economic status. Conclusions: In the present study, the prevalence of bronchial asthma was 3.1%, Allergic rhinitis was 5.7% and Atopy was 1.1% in school children of Tumakuru city in the age group of 6-12 years.
Keywords: Allergic Rhinitis; Atopy; Passive Smoking; School Children
