An estimate of asthma prevalence in Africa: a systematic analysis
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Abstract
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Aim To estimate and compare asthma prevalence in Africa
in 1990, 2000, and 2010 in order to provide information
that will help inform the planning of the public health
response to the disease.
Methods We conducted a systematic search of Medline,
EMBASE, and Global Health for studies on asthma published
between 1990 and 2012. We included cross-sectional
population based studies providing numerical estimates
on the prevalence of asthma. We calculated weighted
mean prevalence and applied an epidemiological model
linking age with the prevalence of asthma. The UN population
figures for Africa for 1990, 2000, and 2010 were used to
estimate the cases of asthma, each for the respective year.
Results Our search returned 790 studies. We retained 45
studies that met our selection criteria. In Africa in 1990,
we estimated 34.1 million asthma cases (12.1%; 95% confidence
interval [CI] 7.2-16.9) among children < 15 years,
64.9 million (11.8%; 95% CI 7.9-15.8) among people aged
< 45 years, and 74.4 million (11.7%; 95% CI 8.2-15.3) in the
total population. In 2000, we estimated 41.3 million cases
(12.9%; 95% CI 8.7-17.0) among children <15 years, 82.4
million (12.5%; 95% CI 5.9-19.1) among people aged <45
years, and 94.8 million (12.0%; 95% CI 5.0-18.8) in the total
population. This increased to 49.7 million (13.9%; 95% CI
9.6-18.3) among children <15 years, 102.9 million (13.8%;
95% CI 6.2-21.4) among people aged <45 years, and 119.3
million (12.8%; 95% CI 8.2-17.1) in the total population in
2010. There were no significant differences between asthma
prevalence in studies which ascertained cases by written
and video questionnaires. Crude prevalences of asthma
were, however, consistently higher among urban than
rural dwellers.
Keywords
R Medicine (General)