Respiratory symptoms and duration of residence in immigrant teenagers living in Melbourne, Australia

OBJECTIVE Examination of the relation between respiratory symptoms and time since arrival in Australia in immigrant teenagers living in Melbourne. DESIGN Two stage, stratified, cross sectional survey. SETTING High schools (n = 51). SUBJECTS 9794 people aged 13–19 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevale...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of disease in childhood 1999-08, Vol.81 (2), p.159-162
Main Authors: Powell, C V E, Nolan, T M, Carlin, J B, Bennett, C M, Johnson, P D R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescents
Age
Asian people
Asthma
Asthma - epidemiology
Biological and medical sciences
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma
Confidence intervals
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emigration and Immigration - statistics & numerical data
environmental factors
Environmental Influences
High School Students
Humans
Medical sciences
Numbers
Original
Pneumology
Population Distribution
Prevalence
Questionnaires
Research Assistants
Residence Characteristics
Respiratory Sounds - etiology
Sampling
Schools
Secondary school students
Statistical Analysis
Statistical Distributions
Studies
Tuberculosis
Victoria - epidemiology
wheezing
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Summary:OBJECTIVE Examination of the relation between respiratory symptoms and time since arrival in Australia in immigrant teenagers living in Melbourne. DESIGN Two stage, stratified, cross sectional survey. SETTING High schools (n = 51). SUBJECTS 9794 people aged 13–19 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence of wheeze during a 12 month period, region of birth, duration of residence in Australia. RESULTS The estimated population 12 month period prevalence of wheeze was 18.9% (95% confidence interval (CI), 18.0 to 19.9). In subjects born outside Australia, residence for five to nine years in Australia was associated with a 2.1-fold (CI, 1.1 to 4.0) increase in the odds of self reported wheeze; after 10–14 years, this risk increased 3.4-fold (CI, 1.8 to 6.7). There was no difference in severity of wheeze, measured by reported frequency of attacks, between Australian born and non-Australian born subjects. CONCLUSIONS The notion of a continued secular increase in the prevalence of wheezing is not supported. There is a time dose effect on the prevalence of symptoms in subjects born outside Australia and now living in Melbourne, which is independent of age and country of birth.
ISSN:0003-9888
1468-2044
DOI:10.1136/adc.81.2.159