Environmental Pollutants and Airborne Allergens Associated with Bronchial Asthma among School Children in Puducherry, India: A Cross - Sectional Study

Background: To define environmental risk factors influencing asthma prevalence and to see if there is gender difference in asthma prevalence and to assess the risk factors for asthma. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 1250 school going children (Age 8?17 years) attending to private and government schools in the urban area of Puducherry during the academic years 2008 and 2009. Of the five schools 2 were boys? schools, 2 were co - education schools and 1was girls? school, using a bilingual questionnaire. We collected data regarding asthma prevalence, incidence of wheezing, gender difference in prevalence and exposure to environmental pollutants. Results: Prevalence of previously diagnosed asthma cases among school children is 4.97%. The study results on comparison show that there is asthma at the ratio of 2: 1 prevalent in boys and girls. Incidence of reported wheeze in the last 12 month duration before the study is 14.17% from the study group of 1247. Nasal allergies and skin eczema are significant risk factors for wheezing (P Value=0.0000). Pneumonia in infancy (P Value=0.0000), Parental asthma (P Value=0.0005) and male infants with pneumonia are more prone for asthma. Conclusion: There is a significant gender difference in prevalence of asthma and there is a significant correlation between family history of asthma among parents and children having wheezing, breathing difficulty and asthma. There is significant correlation between environmental factors and Bronchial asthma.