%0 Journal Article
%T Prevalence of asthma in Portugal - The Portuguese National Asthma Survey
%A Ana Sa-Sousa
%A M芍rio Morais-Almeida
%A Luis Azevedo
%A Rosa Carvalho
%A Tiago Jacinto
%A Ana Todo-Bom
%A Carlos Loureiro
%A Ant車nio Bugalho-Almeida
%A Jean Bousquet
%A Joˋo Fonseca
%J Clinical and Translational Allergy
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/2045-7022-2-15
%X A cross-sectional, population-based, telephone interview survey including all municipalities of Portugal was undertaken. Participants were randomly selected to answer a questionnaire based on the Portuguese version of the GA2LEN survey. ＆Current asthma＊ was defined as self-reported lifetime asthma and at least one of 3 symptoms in the last 12ˋmonths: wheezing, waking with breathlessness or having an asthma attack.Data were obtained for 6 003 respondents, with mean age of 38.9 (95%CI 38.2-39.6) years and 57.3% females. In the Portuguese population, the prevalence of ＆Current asthma＊ was 6.8% (95%CI 6.0-7.7) and of ＆Lifetime asthma＊ was 10.5% (95%CI 9.5-11.6) Using GA2LEN definition for asthma, our prevalence estimate was 7.8% (95%CI 7.0-8.8). Rhinitis had a strong association with asthma (Adjusted OR 3.87, 95%CI 2.90-5.18) and the association between upper airway diseases and asthma was stronger in patients with both rhinitis and sinusitis (Adjusted OR 13.93, 95%CI 6.60-29.44).Current asthma affects 695 000 Portuguese, with a prevalence of 6.8%. People who reported both rhinitis and sinusitis had the highest risk of having asthma.Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways associated with episodes of wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath and cough especially at night [1]. Epidemiological studies at a population level are crucial for the assessment of population needs related to chronic respiratory diseases, the baseline to define health policies [2]. However few data on asthma prevalence are available in Portugal and, as most of the studies use non-standardized methods, prevalence estimates are difficult to compare. Standardized methodology on asthma symptoms prevalence is limited for ages between 20每44ˋyears old in European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) [3] and 6每7 and 13每14ˋyears old in International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) [4]. In Portugal, both surveys were conducted in a small number of cities [5,6].
%K Asthma
%K Computer-assisted-telephone每interviewing (CATI)
%K Epidemiology
%K Prevalence
%U http://www.ctajournal.com/content/2/1/15