Data from: Prevalence and severity of asthmatic symptoms in Grenadian school children: the Grenada National Asthma Survey

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of asthma in school children in the tri-island Caribbean nation of Grenada. Setting, participants and outcomes: This was a self-report study provided to the guardians of all primary school children between ages 6 and 7 throughout Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique in 2013. Of the 2362 surveys provided, 1374 were returned, resulting in a response rate of 58.2%. Only responders listing birthdays between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2007 were included in the analysis, resulting in 1165 qualifying responders. Asthma diagnosis was based on previous physician diagnosed asthma and/or self-reported presence of wheeze in the past 12 months (current wheeze). Severity of asthma, medication usage, environmental exposures, physician and emergency department visits were compared among respondents. Results: The prevalence of wheezing in the past year was 30.5±1.8%, and of these 68.4% were previously diagnosed with asthma. Of the current wheeze participants, 39.9±9.2% reported moderate to severe asthma symptoms and increased exposure to cigarette smoke, excessive dust, burning brush and landfills. Carriacou and Petite Martinique, the two smaller islands, had a lower incidence of current wheeze (14.1±7.7%) and exposure rates to cigarette smoke and burning brush as compared to the larger, denser island of Grenada. Although 65.7% of respondents diagnosed with asthma reported taking medication, the number of annual doctor and emergency department visits were high (2.82 and 0.86, respectively). Respondents with the most severe asthma symptoms reported the most emergency department visits with an average of 1.05 visits annually, whereas respondents with moderate asthma symptoms had the most doctor visits with an average of 3.33 visits annually. Conclusions: This study indicates that the prevalence of childhood asthma in Grenada is very high and warrants policy consideration in public health and education to decrease its morbidity.Data from the first national asthma survey for the country of Grenada, West Indies.The data contains the self-reported, digitized, de-identified asthma survey results from parents on behalf of Grenadian school children between the ages of 6-7 from October to December 2013. The survey was based on the ISAAC study and thus designed to aid in cross-comparison with other countries and/or communities. Along with the data, please refer to a copy of the survey uploaded as the ReadMe file. Please address any questions to Mark Clunes, PhD (mclunes@sgu.edu).Grenada Asthma Survey Data.xls