The prevalence of asthma and related symptoms in Middle East countries

Abstract

Objectives: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by reversible airway constriction and airway hyperresponsiveness. Asthma is a worldwide problem and its prevalence varies among different parts of the world. There are insufficient data about the prevalence and risk factors of this disease in Middle East countries.

Data source: The objective of this review article was to determine the prevalence of asthma in Middle East countries by searching EMBASE, Medline, Web of Science and Google Scholar for articles about asthma prevalence in children and adults in this region.

Study selection: The prevalence of asthma in different countries and different cities of each country in the Middle East was reviewed in children and adults of both sexes. The possible risk factors for asthma in different areas were also reviewed from 1985 to 2012.

Results: The highest asthma prevalence in children and adults was 35.4% in Tehran, Iran by ISAAC phase I and 15% in Kuwait by self-designed questionnaire and the lowest prevalence was 1% in Kermanshah, Iran by ISAAC and 2% in Tehran, Iran by ECRHS questionnaire, respectively. Most studies showed that the prevalence of this common disease declines with increasing age.

Conclusion: The data showed that the prevalence of asthma varies among different countries and even among different cities of the same country. The common risk factors for this disease were genetic predisposition, cigarette smoking, family history of asthma and allergic diseases.

Keywords: Middle East; adults; asthma; children; prevalence; risk factors.