temporal changes in the prevalence of childhood asthma and allergies in urban and rural areas of cyprus results from two cross sectional studies时间改变儿童哮喘和过敏的患病率在城市和农村地区的塞浦路斯两个横断面研究的结果.pdfVIP

Kolokotroni et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:858 /1471-2458/11/858 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Temporal changes in the prevalence of childhood asthma and allergies in urban and rural areas of Cyprus: results from two cross sectional studies 1* 2 3 4 5 6,7 Ourania Kolokotroni , Nicos Middleton , Nicolas Nicolaou , Spyros Pipis , Kostas N Priftis , Donald K Milton and Panayiotis K Yiallouros1 Abstract Background: The prevalence of childhood asthma and allergies in Cyprus was significantly higher in urban compared to rural areas back in the year 2000, against a background of an overall low prevalence (e.g. current wheeze 6.9%) by comparison to northern European countries. In this study we aimed to assess temporal changes in the prevalence of asthma and allergies in Cyprus after an 8-year interval and to examine whether any differential changes have occurred in urban and rural parts of the island. Methods: During the academic years 1999-2000 and 2007-2008, the parents of 7-8 year old children residing in the same set of urban and rural areas completed the ISAAC core questionnaire. In addition to providing prevalence estimates of allergic diseases in 2000 and 2008, changes between the two periods were expressed as odds ratios estimated in multiple logistic regression models adjusting for survey participants’ characteristics. Results: The prevalence of current wheeze was higher in 2008 (8.7%, 95% confidence interval 7.5%-9.9%, n = 2216) than the previously recorded figure in 2000 (6.9%, 95% CI 6.2%-7.6%, OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.02-1.53, n = 4944). Significant increases were also seen in the prevalence of lifetime asthma (11.3% vs. 17.4%, OR = 1.59, CI: 1.36-1.86), eczema (6.8%