Prevalence of childhood asthma in the Torres Strait region remains high

According to a study in Respirology published by Wiley-Blackwell, the prevalence of asthma among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is similar to that of mainland Australian children - who have one of the highest asthma rates in the world.

The study entitled, “Stable Prevalence of Asthma Symptoms in School-Aged Children in the Torres Strait Region” examines two surveys conducted in 1999 and 2003- measuring the prevalence of asthma in the mainly Indigenous Torres Strait region. The findings show that although the percentage of children having asthma symptoms was slightly lower in the 2003 study, the overall rates of asthma in this population remained stable over the four year period.

Lead author, Dr. Patricia C. Valery says, “Australian non-Indigenous children have some of the highest known prevalence rates of asthma, ranging from 17 to 19.5%; we have shown with this study that Indigenous children, at least Torres Strait Islanders, are not far behind.”

The Torres Strait is an archipelago of about 150 islands with mainly indigenous residents. The 361 children who participated were selected from the 16 schools in this area and were mainly Indigenous. While there was no increase in asthma prevalence in this population during the studied period, other studies conducted by the same research team in the region found that there are still a significant number of Indigenous children suffering from chronic asthma.

“The last decade saw a stabilization or decrease in asthma in westernized countries. However, asthma prevalence in the Asian and Indigenous population continues to rise. As data on asthma prevalence in Australian indigenous communities are sparse and controversial, more Indigenous specific data would be valuable”, says Dr. Valery.

The study was part of the Youth Health Screening project and presented at the Asia Pacific Society of Respirology at Gold Coast in November 2007.

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