Asthma prevalence among adults in Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To investigate asthma prevalence and to measure asthma symptoms among Saudi adults in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS)questionnaire carried out between April and June 2016, among male and female Saudi nationals aged 20-44 years living in Riyadh. Disproportionate cluster sampling method was used. Asthma was defined based on answering “yes” to any of the following: Have you had wheezing when you did not have a cold in the last 12 months? Have you been told by a physician to have asthma? Are you taking medicine for asthma? Results: A total of 2,405 participants completed the survey. The prevalence of wheezing in the last 12 months when not having a cold was 18.2% with no significant difference between males and females ( p =0.107). The prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma was 11.3% with no significant difference between males and females ( p =0.239). The prevalence of taking medicine for asthma was 10.6%. There were no significant differences between asthmatic vs. non-asthmatic in terms of residency area ( p =0.07), education level ( p =0.11) and smoking tobacco ( p =0.06). However, significant differences found between asthmatic and non-asthmatic in relation to nasal allergies ( p less than  0.001). Conclusion: Asthma prevalence is high and much higher than the prevalence reported in most countries using the ECRHS questionnaire. Saudi Med J 2018; Vol. 39 (2): 179-184 doi: 10.15537/smj.2018.2.20974 How to cite this article: Al Ghobain MO, Algazlan SS, Oreibi TM. Asthma prevalence among adults in Saudi Arabia.  Saudi Med J . 2018 Feb;39(2):179-184. doi: 10.15537/smj.2018.2.20974.