Prevalence of bronchial asthma in primary school students in Assiut

Objective Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, usually characterized by chronic airway inflammation. It is defined by the history of respiratory symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and cough that vary over time and in intensity, together with variable expiratory airflow limitation. Patients and methods This study was conducted on primary school students of Assiut Governorate and some villages connected with Assiut Pediatric Hospital from April 1, 2017, to October 1, 2017; students aged 9–12 years were eligible for the study. On the basis of the International Study of Allergy and Asthma in Childhood, a modified questionnaire was formulated to fulfill the aims of the study. We distributed the questionnaire (in Arabic) to be answered by students and their caregivers after explaining the questions. Results This was a study carried out on the prevalence of bronchial asthma in Assiut district among primary school children, and it shows that Assiut children have a prevalence of asthma of 7.6%.