Prevalence of asthma: a comparative study of urban and rural Xhosa children |
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| Authors: | C. H. VAN NIEKERK E. G. WEINBERG S. C. SHORE H. DE V. HEESE D. J. VAN SCHALKWYK |
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| Affiliation: | Allergy Clinic, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa;Institute of Biostatistics, Medical Research Council of South Africa, Tygerberg, South Africa |
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| Abstract: | An epidemiological study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of asthma in young urban and rural black (Xhosa) children. One thousand three hundred and seventy five children were studied, 694 from a Cape Town african township and 671 from a rural area in Transkei. The exercise tolerance test which required free range running at maximum effort for 6 min was used to identify asthmatic subjects. A fall of 15% or more in the post-exercise FEV1 and PEFR values was regarded as a positive result. Twenty-three children were found to be asthmatic, twenty-two from the city area, but only one from the country, giving a prevalence figure for asthma of 3.17% in the first group and 0.14% for the second. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed. The exercise tolerance test was found to be a useful tool for epidemiological studies of asthma. |
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