TY - JOUR T1 - ISAAC Malta: Changes in geographical distribution of wheezing children in Malta between 1994 and 2002 JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p4015 AU - Peter Fsadni AU - Claudia Fsadni AU - Maxine Montefort AU - Stephen Montefort Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p4015.abstract N2 - Introduction: Malta is one of the centres which participated in the Phase 1 and 3 of The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC).Aim: To investigate changes in the geographical distribution of wheezing in the Maltese Islands.Methods: ISAAC Malta Phase 1 was carried out in 1994 with 3506 participants from 24 schools for the 5 to 8 year old age group and 4184 participants from 25 schools for the 13 to 15 year old age group.ISAAC Malta Phase 3 in 2001 studied 3800 from 44 schools and 4139 children from 18 schools in the 5 to 8 and 13 to 15 year old age groups respectively.Results: In the younger age group there was an increase from 8.8% to 14.8% (p<0.0001) in the total prevalence of current wheezing between 1994 and 2001. Most geographical regions of the Maltese islands reported an increase in wheezing with the Central East (10.2% vs 23% p<0.0001), Grand Harbour (8.5% vs 21.2% p<0.005), East (8.6% vs 22.5% p<0.00001) and Central North (6.5% vs 16.3% p<0.0004) regions having the largest increases.The prevalence of current wheezing in the older age group remained stable (16% to 14.6% p=0.08). A decline in current wheezing (p=0.5) was observed in Central West (16.31% vs 11.2), West (17.5% vs 12.6%) and South (14.8% vs 11.2%) while three regions reported an increase in wheezing.Conclusions: A strong genetic component together with environmental factors must influence the geographical distribution of wheezing in the Maltese Islands. ER -