Objective: To determine the prevalence and severity of asthma and allergies as well as risk factors for asthma among Jamaican children aged 2-17years.
Design: A cross-sectional community-based prevalence survey using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies (ISAAC) questionnaire. The authors selected a representative sample of 2, 017 children using stratified multi-stage, cluster sampling design using enumeration districts as primary sampling units.
Setting: Jamaica, a Caribbean island with a total population of approximately 2.6 million geographically divided into 14 parishes.
Participants: Children aged 2-17 years, who were resident in private households. Institutionalised children such as those in boarding schools and hospitals were excluded from the survey.
Primary and secondary outcomes measures: The prevalence and severity of asthma and allergy symptoms, doctor diagnosed asthma and risk factors for asthma.
Results: Almost a fifth (19.6%) of Jamaican children aged 2-17years had current wheeze while 16.7% had self reported doctor-diagnosed asthma. Both were more common among males than females. The prevalence of rhinitis, hay fever and eczema among children was 24.5%, 25% and 17.3%, respectively. Current wheeze was more common among children with rhinitis in the last 12 months (44.3% versus 12.6%, p<0.001), hay fever (36.8% versus 13.8%, p<0.001) and eczema (34.1% versus 16.4%, p<0.001). Independent risk factors for current wheeze, odds ratios (OR), 95 % confidence intervals(CI) were: chest infections in the first year of life 4.83 (3.00-7.77), parental asthma 4.19 (2.8 -6.08), rhinitis in the last twelve months 6.92 (5.16-9.29), hay fever 4.82(3.62-6.41), molds in the home 2.25 (1.16-4.45), cat in the home 2.44 (1.66-3.58) and dog in the home 1.81(1.18-2.78).
Conclusions: The prevalence of asthma and allergies in Jamaican children is high. Significant risk factors for asthma include: chest infections in the first year of life, a history of asthma in the family, allergies, molds and pets in the home
