Underdiagnosis of childhood asthma: A comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluation
Objectives: Diagnostic patterns play a role in asthma prevalence estimates and could have implications for disease management. We sought to determine the extent to which questionnaire-derived estimates of childhood asthma reflect the disease's true occurrence. Materials and Methods: Children ag...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine
2013-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health |
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| Online Access: | http://ijomeh.eu/Underdiagnosis-of-childhood-asthma-a-comparison-of-survey-estimates-to-clinical-evaluation,2138,0,2.html |
| _version_ | 1831657555514884096 |
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| author | Grzegorz Marek Brożek Małgorzata Farnik Joshua Lawson Jan Eugeniusz Zejda |
| author_facet | Grzegorz Marek Brożek Małgorzata Farnik Joshua Lawson Jan Eugeniusz Zejda |
| author_sort | Grzegorz Marek Brożek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives: Diagnostic patterns play a role in asthma prevalence estimates and could have implications for disease management. We sought to determine the extent to which questionnaire-derived estimates of childhood asthma reflect the disease's true occurrence. Materials and Methods: Children aged 6-12 years from Katowice, Poland, were recruited from a crosssectional survey (N = 1822) via primary schools. Students were categorized into three mutually exclusive groups based on survey responses: "Asthma" (previously diagnosed asthma); "Respiratory symptoms" (no previous diagnosis of asthma and one or more respiratory symptoms during last year), "No respiratory symptoms" (no previous diagnosis of asthma or respiratory symptoms). A sample of children from each group (total N = 456) completed clinical testing to determine asthma presence according to GINA recommendations. Results: Based on the survey, 5.4% of children were classified with asthma, 27.9% with respiratory symptoms, and 66.7% with no respiratory symptoms or asthma. All previously known 41 cases of asthma were confirmed. New diagnoses of asthma were made in 21 (10.9%) and 8 (3.6%) of subjects from the "Respiratory symptoms" (N = 192) and "No respiratory symptoms" (N = 223) groups, respectively. The overall prevalence of childhood asthma, incorporating the results of clinical examination, was 10.8% (95% CI: 9.4-12.2), compared to the questionnaire-derived figure of 5.4% (95% CI: 4.4-6.5%) and affected females more than males. Conclusions: Asthma prevalence was underestimated in this population possibly resulting from under-presentation or under-diagnosis. This could have potential implications for proper management and well-being of children. Questionnaire estimates of prevalence should be considered carefully in the context of regional diagnostic patterns. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T17:28:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5ec457cd4aba448386e3c960c053ad8d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1232-1087 1896-494X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T17:28:50Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-5ec457cd4aba448386e3c960c053ad8d2022-12-21T20:12:30ZengNofer Institute of Occupational MedicineInternational Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health1232-10871896-494X2013-12-0126690090910.2478/s13382-013-0162-7Underdiagnosis of childhood asthma: A comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluationGrzegorz Marek BrożekMałgorzata FarnikJoshua LawsonJan Eugeniusz ZejdaObjectives: Diagnostic patterns play a role in asthma prevalence estimates and could have implications for disease management. We sought to determine the extent to which questionnaire-derived estimates of childhood asthma reflect the disease's true occurrence. Materials and Methods: Children aged 6-12 years from Katowice, Poland, were recruited from a crosssectional survey (N = 1822) via primary schools. Students were categorized into three mutually exclusive groups based on survey responses: "Asthma" (previously diagnosed asthma); "Respiratory symptoms" (no previous diagnosis of asthma and one or more respiratory symptoms during last year), "No respiratory symptoms" (no previous diagnosis of asthma or respiratory symptoms). A sample of children from each group (total N = 456) completed clinical testing to determine asthma presence according to GINA recommendations. Results: Based on the survey, 5.4% of children were classified with asthma, 27.9% with respiratory symptoms, and 66.7% with no respiratory symptoms or asthma. All previously known 41 cases of asthma were confirmed. New diagnoses of asthma were made in 21 (10.9%) and 8 (3.6%) of subjects from the "Respiratory symptoms" (N = 192) and "No respiratory symptoms" (N = 223) groups, respectively. The overall prevalence of childhood asthma, incorporating the results of clinical examination, was 10.8% (95% CI: 9.4-12.2), compared to the questionnaire-derived figure of 5.4% (95% CI: 4.4-6.5%) and affected females more than males. Conclusions: Asthma prevalence was underestimated in this population possibly resulting from under-presentation or under-diagnosis. This could have potential implications for proper management and well-being of children. Questionnaire estimates of prevalence should be considered carefully in the context of regional diagnostic patterns.http://ijomeh.eu/Underdiagnosis-of-childhood-asthma-a-comparison-of-survey-estimates-to-clinical-evaluation,2138,0,2.htmlchildrenasthmaclinical epidemiologyunderdiagnosis |
| spellingShingle | Grzegorz Marek Brożek Małgorzata Farnik Joshua Lawson Jan Eugeniusz Zejda Underdiagnosis of childhood asthma: A comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluation International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health children asthma clinical epidemiology underdiagnosis |
| title | Underdiagnosis of childhood asthma: A comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluation |
| title_full | Underdiagnosis of childhood asthma: A comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluation |
| title_fullStr | Underdiagnosis of childhood asthma: A comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Underdiagnosis of childhood asthma: A comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluation |
| title_short | Underdiagnosis of childhood asthma: A comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluation |
| title_sort | underdiagnosis of childhood asthma a comparison of survey estimates to clinical evaluation |
| topic | children asthma clinical epidemiology underdiagnosis |
| url | http://ijomeh.eu/Underdiagnosis-of-childhood-asthma-a-comparison-of-survey-estimates-to-clinical-evaluation,2138,0,2.html |
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