Background. This study is part of the European Community Respiratory H
ealth Survey (ECRHS), which uses a common methodology in different are
as throughout the world. This paper describes the prevalences of repor
ted asthma, asthma-like symptoms and nasal allergies, their relationsh
ips to age group and sex, and the relationships of asthma-like symptom
s to current asthma, in the general population aged 20-44 years of thr
ee French urban areas. Methods. The study population of 2804 subjects
in Grenoble, 3774 in Montpellier and 3152 in Paris (18th district), ra
ndomly selected from electoral rolls, answered a postal questionnaire
(stage I of ECRHS). The response rates were 77.8%, 68.6% and 74.4%, re
spectively. Results. The prevalences were approximately 14% for wheezi
ng, 16% for chest tightness and 4.5% for nocturnal shortness of breath
in the three areas. Asthma attacks in the last 12 months were reporte
d by 2.7% of subjects in Grenoble, 3.5% of subjects in Montpellier and
4.0% of subjects in Paris (P=0.02). For nasal allergies, the prevalen
ces were 28.0%, 34.3% and 30.8%, respectively (P<0.001). Asthma was in
versely correlated to age (higher prevalence in the youngest) but was
not related to sex. Neither age distribution nor sex ratio explained t
he differences between areas. Among the asthma-like symptoms, wheezing
and nocturnal shortness of breath correlated strongly with asthma, ch
est tightness correlated moderately and nocturnal coughing correlated
poorly. Conclusion. The prevalences observed were higher than expected
from previous comparable French studies in young adults. These result
s are consistent with the hypothesis of a recent increase of asthma an
d allergies.