[Prevalence of asthma in college student population]

Bronchial asthma is common chronic disease among young people and prevalence of this condition has been constantly growing over past two decades throughout the world.

To establish the prevalence of asthma in student population of Belgrade University and to determine the frequency distribution in regard to their permanent residence.

Data obtained from annual physical examinations of 118 342 students (age 19-23 years) treated at the Student's Health Care Institute between 1996-2001 were analyzed. Affirmative answer to the question: "Are you currently treated", or "Have you ever been treated for asthma" indicated diagnosis of asthma. Data on student's age, gender, permanent residence, and smoking habits were collected.

The prevalence of asthma was 3680/100.000 and mildly growing trend was noted over the last several years (from 2.96% to 4.05%) (F = 42.427; df=4; p < 0.01). Asthma was more prevalent in females (57%) than among males (43%) (chi2 = 91.189; df=1; p < 0.01). Several regions with increased asthma incidence were identified and the causes of such findings still need to be clarified. Cigarette smoking was common in students (chi2 = 236.781; df=1; p < 0.01), but also among asthmatics [one out of three students was a smoker (chi2= 8.141; df=1; p < 0.01)].

The prevalence of asthma in student population is 3.68% with mildly growing trend over the last years. The disease is more prevalent in females. Cigarette smoking is common in students as well as among asthmatics. To our knowledge, this is the first study on prevalence of asthma in young adult population in our country.