THE PREVALENCE RATE OF RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS IN SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM TWO SOUTH AUSTRALIAN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Abstract

The respiratory symptoms and respiratory function of 680 schoolchildren from two rural areas of South Australia were studied. The initial results of this prospective, longitudinal study showed that the cumulative prevalence of asthma and/or wheezy breathing was 27.4% in the Burra population and 23.1% in the Kingston population. The cumulative prevalence of one or more attacks and asthma/wheezy breathing among Burra (38.8%) and Kingston (23%) children aged up to 8 years was significantly higher than that reported for urban Melbourne children (11%, p < 0.01). The combined South Australian group reported a cumulative prevalence of asthma/wheezy breathing alone of 10% which was significantly higher than the cumulative prevalence rates in three previous studies reported in Australia (1.8%, 2.6%, 2.7%, p < 0.01). The highest overall cumulative prevalence of bronchitis/loose or productive cough occurred in the 12 year old Burra children (41.5%). Burra girls had the highest prevalence of bronchitis/loose or productive cough (36.8%) compared to other groups studied at both locations. The parental smoking rate (60.4% in Burra, 57.4% in Kingston) is much higher than the national figure reported by the Bureau of Statistics in 1977 (35.9%). The prevalence of asthma/wheezy breathing is much higher in the South Australian cohort compared to the Queensland and Tasmanian cohorts studied using the same questionnaire. Predicted respiratory function parameters using initial algorithms are similar to those reported for urban Australian children.