Prevalence of asthma and related symptoms among schoolchildren in Dezful city, Southwestern Iran

Background: Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease and a major public health problem globally. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of asthma and related symptoms in schoolchildren in Dezful city, southwest Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study, the prevalence of asthma symptoms was measured using a randomized cluster sampling method among 2,978 schoolchildren aged 6-14 years. A validated questionnaire from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) was used from January to February 2020. The chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between variables, which were expressed as percentages, with a p‐value 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: The overall prevalence of asthma was 4.7% (CI=3.98 - 5.54), significantly higher among 13-14-year-olds compared to the 6-7-year-old age group (6.4% vs. 3.1%, p 0.001) and in males versus females (6.9% vs. 2.5%, p 0.001). The total prevalence of wheezing in the last year, the main symptom of asthma, was 7.2% (CI=6.31 - 8.20), significantly higher among 13-14-year-olds (8.4% vs. 6.1%, p 0.009) and male schoolchildren (9.6% vs. 4.7%, p 0.001). Conclusion: According to our findings, and compared to the previous ISAAC study in Iran, the prevalence of asthma symptoms was relatively low among Dezful schoolchildren.