Abramson M, Kutin J, Czarny D, Walters E H
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
J Asthma. 1996;33(3):189-96. doi: 10.3109/02770909609054551.
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of self-reported asthma and respiratory symptoms among young adults and whether there had been any change since a previous survey. A cross-sectional postal community survey was conducted in three parliamentary electorates in the inner South East region of Melbourne, Australia. A total of 4500 individuals aged between 20 and 44 years were randomly selected from the electoral roll. After three mailings and telephone follow-up, an adjusted response rate of 79% was achieved. No intervention was performed. Self-reported asthma and respiratory symptoms were recorded from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey screening questionnaire. Respondents were most likely to report nasal allergies (41%), nocturnal cough (28.6%), and wheeze in the last 12 months (28.1%). Nocturnal cough was more common in females than males. The prevalence of wheeze, nocturnal chest tightness, and use of asthma medications decreased with age. An attack of asthma in the last 12 months was reported by 9.7% of young adults, and this fell to 8.2% after correction for nonresponse bias. The prevalence of current asthma had not increased significantly since a previous postal survey in 1990. However the prevalence of nocturnal chest tightness, nocturnal cough, and use of asthma medications had increased significantly over a 2-year period. Further research is required to investigate why asthma is so prevalent in Australia and why some features are increasing in prevalence.
本研究的目的是确定年轻成年人中自我报告的哮喘和呼吸道症状的患病率，以及自上次调查以来是否有任何变化。在澳大利亚墨尔本东南部内城区的三个议会选区进行了一项横断面邮政社区调查。从选民名单中随机抽取了4500名年龄在20至44岁之间的个体。经过三次邮寄和电话随访，调整后的回复率达到了79%。未进行任何干预。从欧洲共同体呼吸健康调查筛查问卷中记录自我报告的哮喘和呼吸道症状。受访者最常报告的是鼻过敏（41%）、夜间咳嗽（28.6%）以及过去12个月内的喘息（28.1%）。夜间咳嗽在女性中比男性更常见。喘息、夜间胸闷和哮喘药物使用的患病率随年龄增长而降低。9.7%的年轻成年人报告在过去12个月内有哮喘发作，校正无应答偏倚后这一比例降至8.2%。自1990年上次邮政调查以来，当前哮喘的患病率没有显著增加。然而，夜间胸闷、夜间咳嗽和哮喘药物使用的患病率在两年内显著增加。需要进一步研究来调查为什么哮喘在澳大利亚如此普遍，以及为什么某些特征的患病率在增加。
