Umeå University's logo

umu.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Increased prevalence of symptoms of rhinitis but not of asthma between 1990 and 2008 in Swedish adults: comparisons of the ECRHS and GA2LEN surveys
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine.
Show others and affiliations
2011 (English)In: PLOS ONE, E-ISSN 1932-6203, Vol. 6, no 2, p. e16082-Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background

The increase in asthma prevalence until 1990 has been well described. Thereafter, time trends are poorly known, due to the low number of high quality studies. The preferred method for studying time trends in prevalence is repeated surveys of similar populations. This study aimed to compare the prevalence of asthma symptoms and their major determinants, rhinitis and smoking, in Swedish young adults in 1990 and 2008.

Methods

In 1990 the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) studied respiratory symptoms, asthma, rhinitis and smoking in a population-based sample (86% participation) in Sweden. In 2008 the same symptom questions were included in the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA2LEN) survey (60% participation). Smoking questions were however differently worded. The regions (Gothenburg, Uppsala, Umeå) and age interval (20–44 years) surveyed both in 1990 (n = 8,982) and 2008 (n = 9,156) were analysed.

Results

The prevalence of any wheeze last 12 months decreased from 20% to 16% (p<0.001), and the prevalence of “asthma-related symptoms” was unchanged at 7%. However, either having asthma attacks or using asthma medications increased from 6% to 8% (p<0.001), and their major risk factor, rhinitis, increased from 22% to 31%. Past and present smoking decreased.

Conclusion

From 1990 to 2008 the prevalence of obstructive airway symptoms common in asthma did not increase in Swedish young adults. This supports the few available international findings suggesting the previous upward trend in asthma has recently reached a plateau. The fact that wheeze did not increase despite the significant increment in rhinitis, may at least in part be due to the decrease in smoking.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Public Library of Science , 2011. Vol. 6, no 2, p. e16082-
National Category
Respiratory Medicine and Allergy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-40446DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016082Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-79951898428OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-40446DiVA, id: diva2:399694
Available from: 2011-02-23 Created: 2011-02-23 Last updated: 2023-03-24Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(312 kB)717 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 312 kBChecksum SHA-512
79fcc5c326c6b571f05665e4c29b3ffc8b76252183090f125962595e1f7ab51db4d1441b67dac01e316cff3c6aa9d74ae0d14a770da1048fb920a14f9aeb556d
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Bjerg, AndersForsberg, BertilFranklin, Karl

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Bjerg, AndersForsberg, BertilFranklin, Karl
By organisation
Pulmonary MedicineOccupational and Environmental MedicineSurgery
In the same journal
PLOS ONE
Respiratory Medicine and Allergy

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 717 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 730 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf