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Prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases in children aged 6-7 in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of asthma, rhinitis and eczema symptoms in school children aged 6-7 years. Design: A cross-sectional study of randomly selected primary schools for children. Setting: Government and private primary schools in Bahrain. Method: A standardized ISAAC-validated Arabic-translated questionnaire was distributed to 3,000 students aged 6-7 years in 18 primary schools which was to be completed by parents or guardians. Results: 1,951 questionnaires were completed. Participants included 1,094 males (56.1%) and 857 (43.9%) females. The prevalence of asthma was 10.8%, allergic rhinitis, 16.5% and eczema, 9.8%. The prevalence rates for physiciandiagnosed asthma were greater in males 13.3% than females 8.7% [CI (1.8-7.4)]. Symptoms of sneezing or blocked nose showed male gender predominance (18.3%) in comparison to females (14.2%) [CI (0.77-7.5)]. Ever diagnosed hay fever also followed the same pattern of a male predominance of 5.4% in comparison to 3.3% in females [CI (0.24-3.9)]. Female predominance was found in prevalence of itchy rash, 12.5% in comparison to males (8.5%) [CI (-6.9 to -1.2)]. 58.6% had symptoms of allergic rhinitis with a significant peak in the winter season [CI (50.9-66.3)], only 11.2%, had symptoms in the summer season [CI (6.48-16.4)]. Conclusion: Prevalence of asthma, rhinitis and eczema symptoms found in this study were all similar to those reported in other Gulf neighboring countries; with a significant male predominance found in asthma and rhinitis, but not in atopic eczema.