Asthma ‘prevalent but underappreciated’ among middle-aged, older adults in China

The prevalence of asthma was 21.6% among individuals aged 45 years and older in China in 2018, according to results of a large, comprehensive asthma survey.

“Overall, much attention has focused on childhood and adult asthma, but the population is aging rapidly in China, and many studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of asthma increases with age,” Jingxuan Wan, MD, from the department of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the Center of Respiratory Medicine at China-Japan Friendship Hospital and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences at the Graduate Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, and colleagues wrote in BMC Pulmonary Medicine. “Therefore, it is necessary to describe the prevalence of asthma in middle-aged and elderly people.”

This cross-sectional study included data from 18,395 participants (52.5% women) from the fourth wave (2018) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative survey that targets individuals aged 45 years and older in 28 provinces/cities in China, conducted by the National School of Development of Peking University.

Asthma prevalence differed depending on race, the researchers reported. The overall asthma rate was 2.07% among 16,977 Han participants and 3.32% among 1,418 individuals of other ethnic groups (P = .002).

As age increased, so did the prevalence of asthma. Asthma prevalence was 1.17% among individuals aged 45 to 59 years and 3.45% among individuals aged 70 years and older .

The following factors were associated with prevalent asthma:

• minority ethnic group (Zhuang, Man, Hui, Miao, Weiwuer, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Zangand or other; OR = 1.55; 95% CI, 1.12-2.14; P = .008);
• age 60 to 69 years (OR = 1.85; 95% CI, 1.17-2.92; P = .008) and age 70 years and older (OR = 2.63; 95% CI, 1.66-4.17; P < .001);
• middle school education level (OR = 1.88; 95% CI, 1.15-3.05; P = .011);
• primary education level (OR = 2.48; 95% CI, 1.55-3.98; P < .001);
• literate (OR = 2.53; 95% CI, 1.57-4.07; P < .001);
• illiterate (OR = 2.78; 95% CI, 1.72-4.49; P < .001);
• smoking (OR = 1.37; 95% CI, 1.11-1.68; P = .003); and
• living in north (OR = 1.52; 95% CI, 1.11-2.09; P = .01) or northwest China (OR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.18-2.49; P = .005).

“Asthma is prevalent but underappreciated among middle-aged and elderly people in China. ... These results can help to formulate correct prevention and treatment measures for asthma patients,” the researchers wrote.