[Trends in asthma prevalence and its symptoms in Mexican late adolescents over a 7-year period].

BACKGROUND

Late adolescents with asthma are rarely studied, since generally they are not included in children or adult groups; in addition, studies assessing asthma trends are scarce in Mexico, and their results might differ from findings in developed countries.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the trends in asthma prevalence and its symptoms in late adolescents over a period of 7 years.

METHODS

The prevalence of asthma and its symptoms were compared in two cross-sectional population-based cohorts, one from 2009 and the other from 2016.

RESULTS

The presence of wheezing sometime in life and during the previous year was significantly increased between 2009 and 2016 (12.8 % versus 20.1 % and 7.3 % versus 10.3 %, p < 0.001 and 0.002, respectively). The prevalence of asthma went from 7.8 % in 2009 to 12.7 % in 2016 (p < 0.0001). In addition, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (4.5 % versus 9.0 %) and atopic dermatitis (3.8 % versus 5.2 %) also showed marked increases (p < 0.0001 and 0.051, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of asthma and some of its symptoms in late adolescents substantially increased in a 7-year period.