Prevalence of asthma symptoms and smoking behavior among 20 - 44 years old adults in Tehran: A telephone survey

Background and Objective: Asthma is a major health problem and a high-burden disease in the world. Unfortunately the prevalence of asthma in adult populations in Iran is not determined precisely. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of asthma symptoms and it’s relation with ages, gender and smoking behaviour in city of Tehran. Methods: A telephone interview survey was conducted among 7150 randomly selected telephone numbers in city of Tehran. A questionnaire adapted from The European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) with additional two questions about smoking behaviour and hookah. Results: From 7150 eligible telephone numbers dialled there were 5500 responses (76.92%). The study populations included 3412 female (62%), 2088 men (38%) and the mean age of responder were 31.15 ± 7.33. Their smoking behaviour were; 71.6% non smoker, 11.9% active smoker, 16.5% passive smoker and 7.8% used hookah. The prevalence of “wheezing in the last 12 months”, “dyspnea with wheezing” and “wheezing and two nocturnal symptoms” were 24%, 10.8% and 5% respectively. Prevalence of asthma symptoms was significantly greater in smokers than non-smokers groups. Conclusion: In this study by using symptom based questionnaire (ECRHS), we concluded the prevalence of asthma in Tehran adult population was between 5% to 10%. Also this study may made cross-national comparison of our findings with other ECRHS studies possible; rates of “wheezing in the last 12 months”, “dyspnea with wheezing” and “nocturnal dyspnea” were higher than the European Community Respiratory Health Survey median. Role of air pollution, smoking and other risk factors for asthma should be considered.