Department of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Prishtina, Prishtina, Kosovo.
Department of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, University of Prishtina, University of Prishtina, Prishtina, Kosovo.
Med Arch. 2020 Feb;74(1):19-23. doi: 10.5455/medarh.2020.74.19-23.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by episodes of airway narrowing leading to manifestations of symptoms such as wheeze, shortness of breath, chest tightness and cough, that may resolve spontaneously or following treatment.
The aim of this paper was to present the collected data related to the prevalence of self-reported respiratory symptoms, asthma, and use of asthma medication among school children aged 13-14 years from the city of Gjilan, a municipality located in southeast Kosovo.
This was a cross-sectional study realized during the year 2018 as a part of the Project of Global Asthma Network (GAN) Phase I. The study elaborated randomly selected sample of 1200 school children from the city of Gjilan, in the southeast of Kosovo. The mean age was 13.4±0.51 with median IQR=13 (13-14). About 618 (51.5%) were male and 582 (48.5%) were female with the relation between the genders of 1:1.1. The percentage difference between the genders was not statistically significant (Difference test: Difference 3% [(-0.99-6.99) CI 95%]; Chi-square=2.159; df=1 p=0.1417). The prevalence of wheezing/ whistling in the chest EVER and the last 12 months was 12.7% vs. 6.4% respectively with no significant association between gender and symptoms (p>0.05) (Table 1). About 1132 (94.3%) had no attacks of wheezing in the last 12 MONTHS, 59 (4.9%) had 1-3 attacks, 7 (0.6%) had 4-12 attacks and 2 (0.2%) had>12 attacks. The analysis did not indicate a significant association between gender and the frequency of wheezing attacks (none / 1-3 / ≥ 4) for Pearson Chi-square: 2.5501; df=2; p=0.2801.
This study has found moderately low asthma prevalence among adolescents in the southeast region of Kosovo, with no significant association between genders. Although, should be considered as an urgent need the proper examination, because asthma seems to be under-diagnosed and also untreated. It's possible that doctors in our country hesitate to diagnose asthma or the parents themselves and the children deny it.
哮喘是一种慢性气道炎症性疾病，其特征为气道狭窄发作，导致喘息、呼吸急促、胸闷和咳嗽等症状，这些症状可能自行缓解或经治疗后缓解。
本文旨在介绍来自科索沃东南部城市格利兰的 13-14 岁学龄儿童自我报告的呼吸道症状、哮喘和哮喘药物使用的患病率数据。
这是一项横断面研究，于 2018 年作为全球哮喘网络（GAN）项目 I 期的一部分进行。该研究从科索沃东南部城市格利兰随机选择了 1200 名学龄儿童作为研究对象。平均年龄为 13.4±0.51 岁，中位数 IQR=13（13-14）。约 618 名（51.5%）为男性，582 名（48.5%）为女性，男女比例为 1:1.1。性别之间的百分比差异无统计学意义（差异检验：差异 3%[-0.99-6.99]95%CI；卡方=2.159；df=1，p=0.1417）。在过去 12 个月中，曾有过喘息/哮鸣音和最近 12 个月中出现过喘息/哮鸣音的儿童比例分别为 12.7%和 6.4%，性别与症状之间无显著关联（p>0.05）（表 1）。在过去 12 个月中，约 1132 名（94.3%）儿童无喘息发作，59 名（4.9%）有 1-3 次发作，7 名（0.6%）有 4-12 次发作，2 名（0.2%）有>12 次发作。分析表明，性别与喘息发作频率（无/1-3/≥4）之间无显著关联，皮尔逊卡方值为 2.5501，df=2，p=0.2801。
本研究发现，科索沃东南部地区青少年哮喘患病率处于中等偏低水平，性别之间无显著关联。然而，由于哮喘似乎被诊断不足和未治疗，因此应紧急进行适当的检查。在我们国家，医生可能不愿意诊断哮喘，或者父母和孩子自己否认哮喘。
