BMJ  2004;328:1052-1053 (1 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.38057.583727.47 (published 17 March 2004)

Paper

Trends in prevalence of symptoms of asthma, hay fever, and eczema in 12-14 year olds in the British Isles, 1995-2002: questionnaire survey

H Ross Anderson, professor of epidemiology and public health1, Ruth Ruggles, specialist registrar in public health medicine1, David P Strachan, professor of epidemiology1, Jane B Austin, paediatrician and honorary lecturer2, Michael Burr, reader in epidemiology3, David Jeffs, director of public health4, Peter Standring, paediatrician5, Andrea Steriu, public health specialist6, Rosie Goulding, research and development coordinator7

1 Department of Community Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 0RE, 2 Highlands and Islands Health Research Institute, University of Aberdeen, Inverness IV2 3ED, 3 Department of Epidemiology, Statistics and Public Health, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff CF14 4XN, 4 Board of Health, St Martins, Guernsey GY4 6UU, 5 Princess Elizabeth Hospital, St Martins, 6 Department of Health and Social Security, Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 3QA, 7 Harvey Education Centre, St Helier, Jersey JE1 3QZ

Correspondence to: H R Anderson r.anderson@sghms.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

The prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic eczema in children in the United Kingdom ranks among the highest in the world.1 The evidence from most repeat surveys is that prevalence has increased over the past three decades,2 but the most recent of these studies observed that from 1991 to 1998 the increase was confined to milder symptoms of asthma.3 Since the early 1990s the incidence of asthma episodes presenting to general practitioners, and of hospital admissions, has fallen substantially.2

Participants, methods, and results

In 1995, as part of the international study of asthma and allergies in childhood (ISAAC), we surveyed symptoms of atopic disease in England, Scotland, Wales, and the offshore islands of Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey.4 5 A self completed questionnaire which adhered to the core ISAAC protocol was administered to secondary school children aged 12-14 in school years 8 and 9 (S2 and S3 in Scotland). In 2002 . . . [Full text of this article]

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