Table II.
Prevalence and severity of asthma symptoms in schoolchildren
| Symptom | Aged 6-7 y |
Aged 13-14 y |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (n = 3614) No. (%) |
Boys (n = 1673) No. (%) |
Girls (n = 1764) No. (%) |
P value | Total (n = 4086) No. (%) |
Boys (n = 1973) No. (%) |
Girls (n = 2015) No. (%) |
P value | |
| Current wheeze∗ | 377 (10.4) | 193 (11.5) | 169 (9.6) | .045 | 543 (13.3) | 318 (16.1) | 210 (10.4) | <.001 |
| Symptoms of severe asthma, no.† | 188 | 100 | 88 | 227 | 139 | 79 | ||
| % of all | 5.2 | 5.9 | 4.9 | .760 | 5.6 | 7.0 | 3.9 | .135 |
| % of wheeze | 49.9 | 51.8 | 52.1 | .880 | 41.8 | 43.3 | 37.1 | .170 |
| Exercise wheeze in the past 12 months, no. (%) | 242 (6.7) | 119 (7.1) | 111 (6.3) | .117 | 781 (19.1) | 458 (23.2) | 298 (14.8) | <.001 |
| Night cough in the past 12 months, no. (%) | 685 (19.0) | 310 (18.5) | 344 (19.5) | .837 | 1051 (25.7) | 509 (25.8) | 513 (25.5) | .593 |
| Asthma ever | 500 (13.8) | 254 (15.2) | 229 (13.0) | .001 | 643 (15.7) | 380 (19.3) | 243 (12.1) | <.001 |
| Asthma confirmed by a doctor, no. | 429 | 221 | 192 | 474 | 282 | 179 | ||
| % of all | 11.9 | 13.2 | 10.9 | .093 | 11.6 | 14.3 | 8.9 | <.001 |
| % of asthma ever | 86.0 | 87.4 | 83.8 | .272 | 74.8 | 75.2 | 74.3 | .796 |
| A written plan for asthma control, no. | 259 | 121 | 129 | 198 | 114 | 76 | ||
| % of all | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.3 | .056 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 3.8 | <.001 |
| % of asthma ever | 53.0 | 49.0 | 57.1 | .078 | 32.4 | 32.0 | 32.3 | .935 |
P values were obtained from chi-square tests comparing categoric variables in boys and girls.
∗
Participants with wheeze in the past 12 months (percentages were calculated for all participants).
†
Participants with wheeze in the past 12 months who had 4 or more attacks of wheeze, at least 1 night per week of sleep disturbance due to wheeze, or wheeze affecting speech.