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Title: [Changes in the prevalence of asthma in Chilean school age children between 1994 and 2002. International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)--Chile phases I and III].
Author: Mallol J, Aguirre V, Aguilar P, Calvo M, Amarales L, Arellano P, Palma R.
Journal: Rev Med Chil; 2007 May; 135(5):580-6. PubMed ID: 17657326.
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: In developed countries, the prevalence of asthma in children has significantly increased in the last decades. However, there is no information about the trends of asthma in Latin America. AIM: To determine changes in asthma prevalence between 1994 and 2002 in Chilean schoolchildren. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The prevalence of asthma symptoms in schoolchildren aged 7 (n =18.697) and 13 years (n =18.939), from South Santiago, Valdivia and Punta Arenas, obtained during phases I and III of the ISAAC, carried out in 1994 and 2002, was compared. RESULTS: From 1994 to 2002, the mean national prevalence of "wheezing in the last 12 months" in the group aged 6-7 years, changed from 18.2% to 17.9% (p =NS); "asthma ever" from 12.5% to 10.7% (p =NS), and "severe episode" from 3.2% to 2.8% (p =NS). There was a significant increase of the prevalence of "wheezing in the last 12 months", in children aged 13-14 years, from 9.8% to 15.5% (p =0.01); in "asthma ever" from 10.2% to 14.9% (p =0.01), and for "severe episode" from 2.8% to 3.8% (p =0.01). CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant increase in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms related to asthma in children aged 13-14 years that was consistent in all the 3 participating centres of the ISAAC. However, the prevalence of asthma symptoms in children aged 6-7 years remained without significant changes between 1994 and 2002.

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