Table 2

Prevalence of symptoms of asthma, rhinitis and eczema for ISAAC (2003) and GAN (2019) studies with 95% CIs

Written questionnaireISAAC 2003GAN 2019Dif.
n% (95% CI)n% (95% CI)P value
Asthma symptoms
 Wheeze ever113437.6 (35.9 to 9.4)30312.7 (11.4 to 14.1)<0.001
 Wheeze in the past 12 months53517.8 (16.4 to 9.2)1566.5 (5.6 to 7.6)<0.001
 Four or more attacks of wheeze in the past 12 months762.5 (2.0 to 3.1)190.8 (0.4 to 1.1)<0.001
 Sleep disturbance from wheeze, one or more nights a week in the past 12 months411.4 (1.0 to 1.8)160.7 (0.3 to 1.0)0.017
 Speech limited by wheeze in the past 12 months893 (2.4 to 3.6)602.5 (1.8 to 3.2)0.413
 Asthma ever2076.9 (6.0 to 7.8)1104.6 (3.8 to 5.4)0.001
 Wheeze during or after exercise in the past
 12 months
31910.6 (9.5 to 11.7)44018.5 (16.9 to 20.0)<0.001
 Night cough in the past 12 months2337.7 (6.8 to 8.7)67028.2 (26.3 to 30.0)<0.001
 Doctor diagnosis of asthma803.4 (2.6 to 4.0)
Rhinitis
 Nose symptoms ever144648 (46.2 to 49.7)134356.4 (54.4 to 58.4)<0.001
 Nose symptoms in the past 12 months110236.6 (34.8 to 38.3)109145.8 (43.8 to 47.8)<0.001
 Nose and eye symptoms in the past 12 months69723.1 (21.6 to 24.6)66427.9 (26.0 to 29.7)<0.001
 Nose symptoms affecting activities a lot in the past 12 months260.9 (5.9 to 12.6)1004.2 (3.3 to 5.0)<0.001
 Rhinitis ever28211.8 (10.5 to 13.1)
 Doctor diagnosis of rhinitis2038.5 (7.4 to 9.6)
Eczema
 Rash ever91830.5 (28.8 to 32.1)41817.6 (16.0 to 19.0)<0.001
 Rash in the past 12 months67522.4 (20.9 to 23.9)33013.9 (12.4 to 15.2)<0.001
 Flexural symptoms59919.9 (18.5 to 21.3)24710.4 (9.1 to 12.1)<0.001
 Complete clearance of rash in the past 12 months35611.8 (10.7 to 13.0)25910.9 (9.6 to 12.1)0.448
 Sleep disturbance from rash, one or more nights a week in the past 12 months722.4 (1.9 to 3.0)421.8 (1.2 to 2.2)0.144
 Eczema ever35411.7 (10.6 to 12.9)853.6 (2.8 to 4.3)<0.001
 Doctor diagnosis of eczema532.2 (1.6 to 2.8)
  • Dif, Difference; GAN, Global Asthma Network; ISAAC, International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood.