Objectives: To determine the prevalence of asthma, wheezing, hay fever, and eczema among primary school children aged 6-13 years in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Design: A cross-sectional study on school children was performed using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaires.
Setting: Government primary school children in seven Emirates, in UAE.
Subjects: Subjects were selected by a multi-stage stratified sampling design. 4200 children targeted for this study, but only 3200 children aged 6-13 years were agreed to participate and responded to the study. The overall response rate was 69.8%.
Results: The prevalence of physician diagnosed asthma was 13%, in addition, the wheeze by history was 15.6%. Furthermore, the prevalence of nocturnal cough was 21%. On the other hand, the prevalence of eczema was 11% and hay fever was 14.9%. Parental asthma but not parental atopy was associated with an increased risk of asthma and wheezing in children.
Conclusions: The prevalence of asthma and wheezing in UAE is consistent with that in neighbouring Gulf countries.