Questionnaire study of effect of sex and age on the prevalence of wheeze and asthma in adolescence

Abstract

In early childhood wheezing and asthma are more common in boys than girls.1 This difference has either disappeared or reversed by early adulthood,2 although the age at which the change occurs is unclear. We therefore measured the age and sex specific prevalence of self reported wheeze and diagnosed asthma in 11-16 year old children attending secondary schools in the Nottingham area. In 1996 we completed a prevalence survey of all pupils attending 44 secondary schools in a defined postcode area in and around Nottingham. Questionnaires about lifetime and current wheeze and asthma diagnosed by a doctor (Appendix) were distributed to pupils for self completion during school time. Data were collected on 27 826 pupils (over 80% of registered pupils) aged 11-16 years, 51% of whom were boys. Parental responses to the same questions were obtained for a 1 in 4 random subsample of 3894 pupils (59% response). The self reported lifetime prevalence of wheeze was 30.1% (8317/27 632), with 19.0% …