ASTHMA AND ATOPY IN 4 RURAL AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

Objective: To determine the prevalence and nature of asthma in four ru ral Australian Aboriginal communities. Design: Cross-sectional populat ion study. Setting: Four Aboriginal communities in Queensland, the Nor thern Territory and South Australia, Australia. Subjects: Data were co llected from 1252 subjects aged 5-84 years in August 1990 and August/S eptember 1991. Main outcome measures: Respiratory symptoms, measured b y interview-administered questionnaire; airway hyperresponsiveness (AH R), measured by histamine challenge; and allergy, measured by skin-pri ck tests. AHR was a PD(20)FEV(1) of histamine of less than or equal to 3.9 mu mol. Results: The prevalence of AHR in the four communities ra nged from 2.2% to 7.5% and significantly increased with age (chi(2) tr end test: P<0.05). The prevalence of current asthma was 0.5% among 8-1 2 year old children and 3.3% among adults. The overall prevalence of a topy in the four communities ranged from 21% to 34%. Allergy to cats, house dust mites or cigarette smoking was a risk factor for AHR, and c at allergy was a risk factor for current asthma. Conclusions: The prev alence of asthma in rural Aboriginal adults is low in comparison with the prevalence among non-Aboriginal Australians, and asthma in Aborigi nal children is almost non-existent. The low prevalence of asthma is p ossibly due to environmental factors that influence the acquisition of atopy and AHR.