An International Study of
Asthma and
Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) revealed a wide range of
prevalences of childhood
asthma in the world. Lao PDR had no such epidemiological data yet. This study aimed to investigate the
epidemiology of
asthma,
rhinitis, and
eczema in
children in the country. A
cross-sectional study was conducted in Vientiane City, the
capital of Lao PDR, in 1997 using the ISAAC
questionnaire. From three
primary schools and one
high school, 395
children, age 6-7 years, and 468
children, age 13-14 years, were chosen. The
prevalence of
asthma for
children aged 13-14 years in Lao PDR was 25.6%, which ranks the highest in international
asthma prevalence. The
prevalence in allergic-rhinoconjunctivitis of
children was 24.4% and
atopic eczema was 7.1%. Contrary to generally accepted
risk factors, there were no
associations revealed between
asthma prevalence and
smoking of
family members (especially
mothers), intake of fish/
meat, and
male gender.