Prevalence and Risk Factors of Childhood Asthma in Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

Figures & data

Table 1 Background Characteristics of the Study Population

Demographic Characteristics		Gender – Frequency (%)		Total (%)
		Male	Female
		625 (45.7%)	743 (54.3%)	1368 (100.0%)
Age	From 5 to 10 years old	236 (17.3%)	234 (17.1%)	470 (34.4%)
	From 11 to 18 years old	389 (28.4%)	509 (37.2%)	898 (65.6%)
Nationality	Saudi	592 (43.3%)	729 (53.3%)	1321 (96.6%)
	Non-Saudi	33 (2.4%)	14 (1.0%)	47 (3.4%)
Residency	Urban	207 (15.1%)	195 (14.3%)	402 (29.6%)
	Rural	418 (30.6%)	548 (40.1%)	966 (70.6%)
Geographical Distribution	Coastal	256 (18.7%)	280 (20.5%)	536 (39.2%)
	Plain	340 (24.9%)	415 (30.3%)	755 (55.2%)
	Mountain	29 (2.1%)	48 (3.5%)	77 (5.6%)
Level of education	Elementary	251 (18.3%)	237 (17.3%)	488 (35.7%)
	Intermediate	133 (9.7%)	160 (11.7%)	293 (21.4%)
	Secondary	241 (17.6%)	346 (25.3%)	587 (42.9%)

Table 2 Prevalence of BA-Related Symptoms

Prevalence of BA-Related Symptoms	Frequency (%)			p value
	Male	Female	Total
Life-long wheezing	158 (11.5%)	225 (16.4%)	383 (28.0%)	0.040
Wheezing in last 12 months	183 (13.4%)	217 (15.9%)	400 (29.2%)	0.976
Exercise-induced wheezing in last 12 months	186 (13.6%)	237 (17.3%)	423 (30.9%)	0.411
Past medical history of BA	165 (12.1%)	212 (15.5%)	377 (27.6%)	0.379
Asthma confirmed by doctor	151 (11.0%)	184 (13.5%)	335 (24.5%)	0.796

Table 3 Risk Factors

Risk factors		Frequency (%)			OR 95% CI	p- value
		Male (n=625)	Female (n=743)	Total (n=1368)
Presence of plant		292 (46.7%)	364 (49.0%)	656 (48.0%)	0.890 (0.719–1.101)	0.453
Presence of smoker at home		240 (38.4%)	258 (34.7%)	498 (36.4%)	1.192 (0.955–1.487)	0.159
Presence of pet (cat, dog, birds)		147 (23.5%)	190 (25.6%)	337 (24.6%)	0.893 (0.697–1.145)	0.441
Asthmatic parent(s)		84 (13.4%)	146 (19.7%)	230 (16.8%)	0.714 (0.541–0.943)	0.003
Living near industrial area		47 (7.5%)	51 (6.9%)	98 (7.2%)	1.059 (0.704–1.592)	0.639
Body Mass Index	Underweight	133 (21.3%)	131 (17.6%)	264 (19.3%)		0.011
	Normal	412 (65.9%)	545 (73.4%)	957 (70.0%)
	Overweight	63 (10.1%)	58 (7.8%)	121 (8.8%)
	Obese	9 (1.4%)	17 (2.3%)	26 (1.9%)

Table 4 Correlation Between the Prevalence of Asthma-Related Symptoms, Some Background Chrematistics and Asthma Risk Factors

Risk Factors		Prevalence (%) of BA-Related Symptoms
		Life-Long Wheezing	Wheezing in Last 12 Months	Exercise-Induced Wheezing in Last 12 Months
		383 (28.0%)	400 (29.2%)	423 (30.9%)
Age	5–10 years old	137 (10.0%)	162 (11.8) %	161 (11.8%)
	11–18 years old	246 (18.0%)	238 (17.4%)	262 (19.2%)
	OR (95% CI)	0.917 (0.716–1.174)	0.686 (0.539–0.873)	0.791 (0.623–1.004)
	p value	0.492	0.002	0.056
Nationality	Saudi	373 (27.3%)	393 (28.7%)	409 (29.9%)
	Non-Saudi	10 (0.7%)	7 (0.5%)	14 (1.0%)
	OR (95% CI)	0.687 (0.338–1.395)	0.413 (0.184–0.930)	0.946 (0.501–1.787)
	p value	0.296	0.028	0.875
Residency	Urban	103 (7.5%)	119 (8.7%)	120 (8.8%)
	Rural	280 (20.5%)	281 (20.5%)	303 (22.1%)
	OR (95% CI)	1.185 (0.910–1.542)	0.976 (0.756–1.259)	1.074 (0.834–1.383)
	p value	0.207	0.849	0.608
Geographical Distribution	Coastal	144 (10.5%)	156 (11.4%)	141 (10.3%)
	Plain	209 (15.3%)	218 (15.9%)	249 (18.2%)
	Mountain	30 (2.2%)	26 (1.9%)	33 (2.4%)
	p value	0.083	0.665	0.003
Level of education	Elementary	141 (10.3%)	164 (12.0%)	160 (11.7%)
	Intermediate	95 (6.9%)	95 (6.9%)	96 (7.0%)
	Secondary	147 (10.7%)	141 (10.3%)	167 (12.2%)
	p value	0.061	0.001	0.230
Body Mass Index	< 18.5	105 (27.4%)	109 (27.3%)	114 (27.0%)
	18.5 - < 25	225 (58.7%)	236 (59.0%)	243 (57.4%)
	> 25	53 (13.8%)	55 (13.8%)	66 (15.6%)
	p value	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Presence of plant	Yes	200 (52.2%)	218 (54.5%)	229 (54.1%)
	OR (95% CI)	1.252 (0.988–1.586)	1.436 (1.136–1.814)	1.417 (1.126–1.784
	p-value	0.122	0.007	0.008
Presence of smoker at home	Yes	190 (49.6%)	198 (49.5)	205 (48.5%)
	OR (95% CI)	2.117 (1.663–2.696)	2.220 (1.732–2.794)	2.084 (1.647–2.638)
	p-value	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Presence of pet at home (cat, dog, birds)	Yes	129 (33.7%)	118 (29.5%)	134 (31.7%)
	OR (95% CI)	1.853 (1.426—2.408)	1.395 (1.072–1.815)	1.687 (1.304–2.182)
	p-value	<0.001	0.023	<0.001
Asthmatic parent(s)	Yes	147 (38.4%)	154 (38.5%)	155 (36.6%)
	OR (95% CI)	4.896 (3.675–6.523)	5.311 (3.981–7.086)	4.838 (3.632–6.444)
	p-value	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Living near industrial area	Yes	40 (10.4%)	46 (11.5%)	48 (11.3%)
	OR (95% CI)	1.798 (1.183–2.c733)	2.339 (1.591–3.620)	2.297 (1.524–3.361)
	p-value	0.003	0.000	<0.001

Table 5 Correlation Between Prevalence of Asthma-Related Symptoms and Asthma Risk Factors Based on Linear Regression

	Coefficient	P-value	95% CI
Prevalence of life-long Wheezing: R = 0.347 and R Square = 0.121
Parent(s) with asthma	0.295	<0.001	0.244–0.346
Presence of smoker at home	0.115	<0.001	0.067–0.163
Living near industrial area	0.012	0.792	−0.075–0.098
Animal at home (cat, dog, birds)	0.088	0.002	0.033–0.142
Plant at home	0.001	0.950	−0.045–0.048
Wheezing in last 12 months: R = 0.369 and R Square = 0.136
Parent(s) with asthma	0.319	<0.001	0.268–0.371
Presence of smoker at home	0.128	<0.001	0.080–0.176
Living near industrial area	0.084	0.057	−0.002–0.171
Animal at home (cat, dog, birds)	0.006	0.835	−0.049–0.061
Plant at home	0.042	0.081	−0.005–0.088
Exercise-induced wheezing in last 12 months: R = 00.358 and R Square = 0.128
Parent(s) with asthma	0.313	<0.001	0.260–0.365
Presence of smoker at home	0.115	<0.001	0.066–0.164
Living near industrial area	0.071	0.114	−0.017–0.160
Animal at home (cat, dog, birds)	0.058	0.044	0.002–0.114
Plant at home	0.033	0.175	−0.015–0.081