TITLE:
Prevalence of asthma symptoms and smoking behavior among 20 - 44 years old adults in Tehran: A telephone survey
AUTHORS:
Behnaz Tazesh, Azadeh Shaabani, Mohammad Reza Fazlollahi, Abbas Entezari, Raheleh Dashti, Zahra Pourpak, Mostafa Moin
KEYWORDS:
Asthma; Adult; Prevalence; Smoking; Iran
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.5 No.3,
March
29,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Background and Objective: Asthma is a major
health problem and a high-burden disease in the world. Unfortunately the prevalence
of asthma in adult populations in Iran is not determined precisely. The aim
of this study was to assess the prevalence of asthma symptoms and it’s relation
with ages, gender and smoking behaviour in city of Tehran. Methods: A telephone interview survey was conducted among 7150 randomly selected telephone numbers in city of Tehran. A questionnaire adapted from The
European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) with additional two
questions about smoking behaviour and hookah. Results: From 7150 eligible telephone numbers dialled there were
5500 responses (76.92%). The
study populations included 3412 female (62%), 2088 men (38%) and the mean age of responder were 31.15 ± 7.33.
Their smoking behaviour were; 71.6% non smoker, 11.9% active smoker, 16.5%
passive smoker and 7.8% used hookah. The prevalence of “wheezing in the last 12
months”, “dyspnea with wheezing” and “wheezing and two nocturnal symptoms” were
24%, 10.8% and 5% respectively. Prevalence of asthma symptoms was significantly
greater in smokers than non-smokers groups. Conclusion: In this study by using symptom based questionnaire
(ECRHS), we concluded the prevalence of asthma in Tehran adult population was between
5% to 10%. Also this study may made cross-national comparison of our findings
with other ECRHS studies possible; rates of “wheezing in the last 12 months”, “dyspnea
with wheezing” and “nocturnal dyspnea” were higher than the European Community Respiratory Health Survey median.
Role of air pollution, smoking and other risk factors for asthma should be considered.