Prevalence of asthma and comorbid allergy symptoms in Singaporean preschoolers

Abstract

The cross-sectional prevalence of wheeze, rhinitis and eczema in 7,549 randomly selected Singaporean preschoolers aged 4 to 6 years old is reported in this study. Cumulative and past 12 months ('current') prevalence of wheeze was 27.5% and 16.0%, respectively. 'Asthma' was reported by 11.7%. Current rhinitis prevalence was 25.3% and rhinoconjunctivitis, 7.6%. Current chronic rash affected 13.5% of subjects while 9.9% reported chronic rash with flexural distribution. After multivariate analysis, the main risk factors for 'current wheeze' and self-reported asthma, respectively, were family history of allergy (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]3.22 [2.79-3.71], aOR3.93 [3.34-4.63]); concurrent rhinoconjunctivitis (aOR4.04 [3.31-4.92], aOR3.02 [2.43-3.76]); concurrent chronic flexural rash (aOR2.56[2.13-3.08], aOR2.95[2.41-3.62]) and previous respiratory infection (aOR4.80[4.17-5.53], aOR3.28 [2.80-3.85]). Thus, these allergy-associated symptoms already affect a considerable portion of children by the pre-school years, supporting the need for allergy education and intervention program in this age group.