Childhood asthma.

OBJECTIVES

This article describes trends in the prevalence of asthma among children aged 0 to 14 from 1978/79 to 1994/95, and in hospital separations for asthma from 1974/75 to 1994/95. It also examines factors associated with childhood asthma.

DATA SOURCES

Information on asthma among children aged 0 to 11 is from the 1994/95 National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), and among children aged 12 to 14, from the 1994/95 National Population Health Survey (NPHS). Hospital separation data are from the Hospital Morbidity File. Mortality data are from the Canadian Vital Statistics Data Base.

ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

Prevalence estimates of asthma were calculated based on a sample of 22,831 children aged 0 to 11 from the NLSCY and 637 children aged 12 to 14 from the NPHS. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of asthma among children aged 0 to 11 by selected characteristics.

MAIN RESULTS

The prevalence of childhood asthma and hospital separations rates for asthma have increased sharply. A history of bronchitis and allergies, parental asthma, and residence in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec are associated with higher rates of asthma in children.