Epidemiology of asthma

Abstract

The World Health Organization considers asthma a major noncommunicable disease, affecting both children and adults, and the most common chronic disease among children. The current evidence suggests that asthma is a complex multifactorial disorder, and its etiology is increasingly attributed to interactions between genetic susceptibility, host factors, and environmental exposures. Asthma is a disease with a high social impact, due to its effect on the quality of life, work absenteeism, healthcare resources use, and mortality. In addition, it is estimated that 70% of the healthcare costs of asthma are due to poor control of the disease. Recent studies suggest that the prevalence and severity of asthma may be decreasing due to better diagnosis and treatment, especially in high income countries. However, climate change, pollution from cities and global warming are conditioning a worsening of the quality of the air we breathe and may increase the burden of asthma in the near future.