Prevalence of Asthma and Allergic Diseases among Children 13-14 Years in Lubumbashi/Drcongo

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases in children is increasing in the world, and constitutes a public health problem. The first goal of this work is to determine the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases among school children 13-14 years in the city of Lubumbashi, and contribute to develop the mapping of the prevalence of asthma in the world and in RD Congo

Methods: It is a cross-sectional study following the ISAAC study protocol phase I, with a simple random sampling among students aged 13-14 years in 7 schools of the city of Lubumbashi. Of these facts, a written questionnaire of the ISAAC study (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) was administered to students by a single investigator.

Results: This study determined the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases among 3534 students aged 13-14 years in 7 schools in the city of Lubumbashi. The written questionnaire revealed the prevalence of symptoms such as: current wheezing 15.17% (p=0.38), asthma 10.33% (p<0.001), cough 64.64%(p<0.001), Rhino conjunctivitis 11.49% (p<0.001), current allergic rhinitis  21.73%(p<0.001) and 16.41 eczema (p<0.001). For the majority of the questions, the prevalence was significantly higher among female students than the male students.

Conclusion: Our results show that asthma and allergic diseases are public health problems in our environment.