Table 4.
Smoking, atopy and asthma measures
| Schools in the south | Average schools | Schools in the north | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand total | Nizam | Enthu | Assegai | Dirkie Uys | South | North | Briardale | Ferndale | Ngazana | |
| Any smoker in the household (N=287), % | 26.4 | 19.4 | 12.5 | 20.9 | 29.0 | 20.8 | 31.3 | 15.2 | 26.8 | 53.9 |
| Allergic status, skin-prick test (N=312), % | ||||||||||
| House-dust mite | 31.0 | 16.0 | 54.6 | 38.5 | 25.8 | 32.5 | 29.6 | 47.5 | 28.6 | 12.2 |
| Cockroach | 15.0 | 4.0 | 45.5 | 15.4 | 6.5 | 15.8 | 14.2 | 20.0 | 14.3 | 8.2 |
| Cat | 7.3 | 4.0 | 9.1 | 12.8 | - | 6.8 | 7.7 | 10.0 | 10.2 | 2.0 |
| Dog | 4.7 | - | - | - | 3.2 | 0.8 | 8.3 | 10.0 | 10.2 | 4.1 |
| Mould | 4.0 | - | 9.1 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 4.8 | 3.2 | - | 2.0 | 8.2 |
| Cladosporium | 2.2 | - | 9.1 | - | - | 1.7 | 2.6 | - | 2.0 | 6.1 |
| Grass | 0.7 | - | - | - | - | - | 1.4 | - | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Atopy* | 36.4 | 20.0 | 54.6 | 43.6 | 32.3 | 36.7 | 36.1 | 47.5 | 32.7 | 28.6 |
| AHR† (N=315), % | ||||||||||
| Marked | 7.8 | 13.0 | 14.3 | 5.6 | 17.4 | 11.9 | 4.1 | 2.6 | 6.8 | 2.2 |
| Probable | 8.4 | 13.0 | 7.1 | 8.3 | - | 7.4 | 9.2 | - | 20.5 | 4.4 |
| Possible | 10.6 | 8.7 | 7.1 | 16.7 | 17.4 | 13.0 | 8.6 | 13.2 | 4.6 | 8.9 |
| None | 73.2 | 65.2 | 71.4 | 69.4 | 65.2 | 67.7 | 78.1 | 84.2 | 68.2 | 84.4 |
| Caregiver’s report of asthma severity (N=301), % | ||||||||||
| Moderate to severe | 4.0 | - | - | 7.9 | 12.0 | 5.3 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 2.0 |
| Mild persistent | 8.0 | - | 11.1 | 13.2 | 16.0 | 10.0 | 6.2 | 8.9 | 4.1 | 6.0 |
| Mild intermittent | 20.1 | 20.0 | 22.2 | 13.2 | 28.0 | 20.1 | 20.0 | 17.8 | 26.5 | 14.0 |
| None | 67.9 | 80.0 | 66.7 | 65.8 | 44.0 | 64.6 | 71.0 | 71.1 | 65.3 | 78.0 |
AHR = airway hyperreactivity.
*
Allergic to any of the listed allergens.
†
Marked = PC20 ≤4 mg/ml; Probable = PC20 ranging from 4 to 8 mg/ml; Possible = PC20 ranging from >8 to 16 mg/ml; None = PC20 >16 mg/ml.