PREVALENCE OF ASTHMA AND ASTHMA-LIKE SYMPTOMS IN 3 FRENCH CITIES

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.