PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Singh, Sheetu AU - Salvi, Sundeep AU - Mangal, Daya Krishan AU - Singh, Meenu AU - Awasthi, Shally AU - Mahesh, Padukuduru Anand AU - Kabra, Sushil K AU - Mohammed, Sabir AU - Sukumaran, Thevaruparambil U AU - Ghoshal, Aloke G AU - Barne, Monica AU - Sinha, Sanjeev AU - Kochar, Sanjay K AU - Singh, Nishtha AU - Singh, Udaiveer AU - Patel, Kamalesh Kumar AU - Sharma, Arvind Kumar AU - Girase, Bhushan AU - Chauhan, Anil AU - Sit, Niranjan AU - Siddaiah, Jayaraj B AU - Singh, Virendra TI - Prevalence, time trends and treatment practices of asthma in India: Global Asthma Network study AID - 10.1183/23120541.00528-2021 DP - 2022 Jan 01 TA - ERJ Open Research PG - 00528-2021 4099 - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2022/01/20/23120541.00528-2021.short 4100 - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2022/01/20/23120541.00528-2021.full AB - Objective The objective of the sub-analysis of data from centers across urban areas in India of the Global Asthma Network (GAN) was to study the 1) prevalence of symptoms of asthma in children and adults, 2) change in prevalence of asthma and its trigger factors since the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), and, 3) current asthma treatment practice.Methods In this cross–sectional, multicenter, school-based, and self-administered questionnaire, responses from children aged 6–7 years, 13–14 years, and their respective parents were analysed.Results The GAN phase I study included 20084 children in the 6–7-year-age group, 25887 children in the 13–14-year-age group, and 81296 parents. The prevalence of wheeze in the past 12 months was 3.16%, 3.63%, and 3.30% in the three groups respectively. In comparison to the ISAAC studies, there was a significant reduction in the prevalence of current wheeze (p<0.001). Bivariate analysis revealed a significant reduction in the prevalence of trigger factors. Almost 82% of current wheezers and 70% of subjects with symptoms of severe asthma were not clinically diagnosed as having asthma. The daily use of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) was less than 2.5% in subjects with current wheeze and those with symptoms of severe asthma but less than 1% used daily ICS when asthma remained undiagnosed.Conclusion The prevalence of current wheeze and its causal factors showed a significant reduction compared to previous ISAAC studies. Among subjects with current wheeze and symptoms of severe asthma, the problem of under-diagnosis and under-treatment was high.FootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.Conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest to report by any of the authors