Influence of the environment on the characteristics of asthma
Romero-Mesones, Christian (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Ojanguren, Iñigo (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias)
Espejo, David (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Granados, Galo (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
González-Barcala, Francisco-Javier (Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela)
Cruz Carmona, María Jesús (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias)
Muñoz Gall, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, de Fisiologia i d'Immunologia)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	Few studies have compared the prevalence of asthma in urban and rural settings or explored the issue of whether these two manifestations of the disease may represent different phenotypes. The aim of this study was: (a) to establish whether the prevalence of asthma differs between rural and urban settings, and b) to identify differences in the clinical presentation of asthma in these two environments. Descriptive epidemiological study involving individuals aged 18 or over from a rural (n = 516) and an urban population (n = 522). In the first phase, individuals were contacted by letter in order to organize the administration of a first validated questionnaire (Q1) designed to establish the possible prevalence of bronchial asthma. In the second phase, patients who had presented association patterns in the set of variables related to asthma in Q1 completed a second validated questionnaire (Q2), designed to identify the characteristics of asthma. According to Q1, the prevalence of asthma was 15% (n = 78) and 11% (n = 59) in rural and urban populations respectively. Sixty-five individuals with asthma from the rural population and all 59 individuals from the urban population were contacted and administered the Q2. Thirty-seven per cent of the individuals surveyed had previously been diagnosed with bronchial asthma (35% in the rural population and 40% in the urban setting). In the urban asthmatic population there was a predominance of women, a greater personal history of allergic rhinitis and a family history of allergic rhinitis and/or eczema. Asthma was diagnosed in adulthood in 74. 8% of the patients, with no significant differences between the two populations. Regarding symptoms, cough (morning, daytime and night) and expectoration were more frequent in the urban population. The prevalence of asthma does not differ between urban and rural settings. The differences in exposure that characterize each environment may lead to different manifestations of the disease and may also affect its severity.
Grants:	Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI18/00344 Instituto de Salud Carlos III MSII17/00025
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Environmental sciences ; Health care
Published in:	Scientific reports, Vol. 12 (november 2022) , ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25028-1
PMID: 36443644

9 p, 944.9 KB

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