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Apparent but not real increase in asthma prevalence during the 1990s

¹ Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Victoria Infirmary, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and ² Dept of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen University, Aberdeen, UK

CORRESPONDENCE: S.C. Stenton, Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Victoria Infirmary, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 4LP, UK. Fax: 44 1912275224. E-mail: s.c.stenton@ncl.ac.uk

Keywords: airway responsiveness, asthma, atopy, epidemiology

Received: January 31, 2002
Accepted April 24, 2002

This study was supported by a grant from the National Asthma Campaign.

The authors investigated changes in asthma prevalence and perception of bronchoconstriction over 6 yrs in adults of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Postal questionnaires were sent to 6,000 subjects aged 20–44 yrs in 1992–1993 and 1998–1999. Random samples of 600 responders had assessments of atopy, airway responsiveness, and their ability to perceive methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction. The prevalences of asthmatic symptoms, physician-diagnosis, and medication use increased by an average of 4.4%, particularly in subjects aged <30 yrs (8.7 versus 2.7). Atopy prevalence increased from 25% to 31% but atopics and nonatopics had similar mean changes in questionnaire data (5.2 versus 3.4). The probability of a positive methacholine test decreased as did the mean methacholine dose/response slope (0.00527 to 0.00379), indicating lower levels of airway responsiveness. This can be largely explained by an increase in use of inhaled corticosteroids (5.0–9.3%). The proportion of subjects perceiving bronchoconstriction during methacholine tests increased from 63 to 77%.

The authors conclude that current changes in asthma epidemiology in adults may result from increased awareness of symptoms (and/or an increased willingness to report them), and from an increased willingness of physicians to make the diagnosis and prescribe treatment, not from increased disease prevalence.

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