Prevalence of Asthma and Sleep-Related Breathing Disorder in School-Going Children

Rashmi Kaushal; Pankaj Bhardwaj; Akhil Dhanesh Goel; Shashank Shekhar; Prawin Kumar; Jagdish Prasad Goyal

doi:10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_58_20

Prevalence of Asthma and Sleep-Related Breathing Disorder in School-Going Children

Indian J Community Med. 2020 Oct-Dec;45(4):539-542. doi: 10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_58_20. Epub 2020 Oct 28.

Authors

Rashmi Kaushal¹, Pankaj Bhardwaj², Akhil Dhanesh Goel², Shashank Shekhar³, Prawin Kumar⁴, Jagdish Prasad Goyal⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
² Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
³ Obstetrics and Gynecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
⁴ Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.

Abstract

Objective: The main objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of asthma and sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) in school-going children.

Methods: This school-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among children of age groups of 6-7 and 13-14 years from 31 public and private schools in rural and urban areas of Jodhpur. A pretested and validated questionnaire in Hindi for childhood asthma, International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire and 22-item pediatric SRBD scale were used to collect data.

Results: A total of 2245 children were screened for asthma and SRBD. The overall prevalence of asthma and SRBD in school children in Jodhpur was 8.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.9%-9.2%) and 9.5% (95% CI: 8.4-10.8), respectively. Asthma was found to be significantly associated with SRBD in school-going children in Jodhpur (odds ratio: 4.8; 95% CI: 3.3-6.8) on multiple logistic regression analysis.

Conclusion: There is a significantly high prevalence of asthma and SRBD with a good association between them in school-going children.

Keywords: Asthma; International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood; children; sleep-related breathing disorder.