Rising trends in the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases among school children in the north-west coastal part of Croatia

Objective: To estimate time trends in prevalence of symptoms and reported diagnosis related to asthma, allergic rhinitis/conjunctivitis and eczema among school children in the north-west coastal part of Croatia. Methods: Results of two identical cross-sectional surveys conducted on the same area 8 years apart (school years 2001/02 versus 2009/10) in complete adherence to the protocol of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood were compared. Surveyed population comprised two age groups: 6-7 years (n = 1634 versus n = 1052) and 13-14 years (n = 2194 versus 1181). Results: Significant (p<0.001) increases in prevalence (%) of symptoms related to asthma (8.4 versus 14.0), allergic rhinitis (17.5 versus 25.6), allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (6.7 versus 15.3) and eczema (3.4 versus 5.9) were observed in the 13-14-year-olds. In the 6-7-year-olds there were observed significant (p<0.001) increases in prevalence of symptoms of eczema (5.4 versus 8.7) and allergic rhinitis (16.9 versus 22.1) whereas prevalence of symptoms related to asthma (9.7 versus 9.4; p = 0.398) and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (5.6 versus 6.8; p = 0.102) showed to be stable. Significant increases in prevalence of reported diagnosis were observed for asthma (5.2 versus 6.9; p = 0.02) and hay fever (10.5 versus 14.6; p<0.001) in the older, and for eczema (10.6 versus 14.1; p<0.001) in the younger age group. Conclusion: Prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases among the school children living on the surveyed area showed a rising trend.