Lessons Learned from the Prevalence of Childhood Asthma in Korea

© Copyright The Korean Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology • The Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease http://e-aair.org Asthma is a chronic disease in childhood that affects virtually every facet of a patient’s life and school activities, and every member of the family. It imposes a substantial socio-economic burden and demands many special considerations. Despite frequent updates on the current concepts of asthma management and its natural history, the prevalence of childhood asthma has increased worldwide in recent decades. More recently, however, comparable data on the prevalence of childhood asthma showed little change or a plateau in the incidence in some countries, including Korea. For example, the prevalence of asthma symptoms in the past 12 months in 13to 14-yearold school children was 8.7% in Korea, compared with 8.8% in the entire Asia-Pacific region. As part of collaborative international studies in 1995, 2000, and 2005, national and regional cross-sectional surveys of asthma were performed using the Korean versions of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) written and video questionnaires. The ISAAC involves epidemiological studies enthusiastically carried out by the contributing members of the Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Diseases. There is little doubt regarding the prevalence of asthma determined by the ISAAC using the Korean versions of the written and video questionnaires. The lifetime prevalence of wheezing fell from 19.3% in 1995 to 14.4% in 2000 in Korea, whereas the number of affected children increased during this period in other countries. In addition, the prevalence of wheezing in the previous 12 months decreased from 10.5% in 1995 to 5.2% in 2000 in Korea. In contrast to the increased prevalence of asthma in 13to 14-year-old children in Japan, the prevalence decreased in Korea. This decrease was partially attributable to a greater awareness of symptoms, early diagnosis, and proper management of childhood asthma by caregivers and physicians, following a successful Nationwide Asthma Campaign. In this issue, Kwon et al. showed that there was little change in asthma prevalence between 2005 Lessons Learned from the Prevalence of Childhood Asthma in Korea