Prevalence of symptoms of asthma, severe asthma, asthma ever and doctor-diagnosed asthma in children and adults across both genders
| Symptoms | 6–7-year age group (n=20 084) | 13–14-year age group (n=25 887) | Adults (n=81 296)# | |||||||||
| Male (n=10 441) | Female (n=9643) | p-value¶ | Total n (%) | Male (n=12 671) | Female (n=13 216) | p-value¶ | Total n (%) | Male (n=40 468) | Female (n=40 815) | p-value¶ | Total n (%) | |
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |||||||
| Current wheeze | 380 (3.64) | 254 (2.63) | <0.0001 | 634 (3.16) | 565 (4.46) | 375 (2.84) | <0.0001 | 940 (3.63) | 1344 (3.32) | 1335 (3.27) | 0.689 | 2680 (3.30) |
| Wheeze ever+ | 757 (7.25) | 498 (5.16) | <0.0001 | 1255 (6.25) | 1139 (8.99) | 778 (5.89) | <0.0001 | 1917 (7.41) | ||||
| Nocturnal cough in past 12 months+ | 1870 (17.91) | 1370 (14.21) | <0.001 | 3240 (16.13) | 3864 (30.49) | 3520 (26.63) | <0.0001 | 7384 (28.52) | ||||
| Asthma severe§ | 192 (1.84) | 128 (1.33) | 0.004 | 320 (1.59) | 258 (2.04) | 157 (1.19) | <0.0001 | 415 (1.60) | 465 (1.15) | 476 (1.17) | 0.790 | 942 (1.16) |
| Asthma ever | 174 (1.67) | 109 (1.13) | 0.0012 | 283 (1.41) | 630 (4.97) | 426 (3.22) | <0.0001 | 1056 (4.08) | 714 (1.76) | 942 (2.31) | <0.0001 | 1656 (2.04) |
| Doctor-diagnosed asthma | 138 (1.32) | 88 (0.91) | 0.0059 | 226 (1.13) | 354 (2.79) | 246 (1.86) | <0.0001 | 600 (2.32) | 517 (1.28) | 659 (1.61) | 0.000 | 1176 (1.45) |
#: sex not defined for 13 adults. ¶: Chi-squared test. +: questions not included in adult questionnaire. §: severe asthma is defined as more than four attacks of wheezing in previous 12 months or wheeze affecting sleep or speech in previous 12 months.