PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Civelek, Ersoy AU - Gökdemir, Yasemin AU - Cakir, Banu AU - Demir, Ahmet Ugur AU - Kocabas, Can Naci AU - Karadag, Bulent AU - Karakoc, Fazilet AU - Ersu, Refika TI - Prevalence of allergic diseases in children living in rural and urban areas in Turkey AID - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA4391 DP - 2016 Sep 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - PA4391 VI - 48 IP - suppl 60 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/48/suppl_60/PA4391.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/48/suppl_60/PA4391.full SO - Eur Respir J2016 Sep 01; 48 AB - Introduction: Knowledge of the prevalence of allergic diseases in rural and urban areas can contribute to the development of new hypotheses associated with the etiyopatogenesis of allergic diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of allergic diseases in rural and urban areas in TurkeyMethods: 154 schools were selected randomly and asthma and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (ARC) questionnaires of “International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood” were sent to schools by mail. After questionnaires were filled in by the families, they were posted back by school directors.Results: A total of 11013 students were contacted and 9045 (82.1%) of them were included to the study. 4144 (79,5%) and 4931 (84,5%) of students were contacted in rural and urban areas. Mean age of the children living in rural and urban areas were 8.4±1.3 ve 8,5±1.3 years old (p<0.001).Wheezing and ARC prevalence during the last year in rural and urban areas were 13.6% vs. 15.9% (p=0.003) and 28.4% vs. 28.1% (p=0.780), respectively. Lifetime prevalence of doctor-diagnosed asthma and ARC in rural and urban areas were 19,4% vs % 22,7% (p<0.001) and 14,2% vs 17,0% (p<0.001) respectively.Conclusion: The frequency of wheezing during last year, lifetime prevalence of doctor-diagnosed asthma and ARC were significantly higher than in urban areas. There was no difference in frequency of last year's ARC symptoms between rural and urban areas. The high frequency of doctor diagnosed diseases in urban areas may be associated with access to health services. The high prevalence of wheezing in urban areas can be explained by the hygiene hypothesis.