Author Affiliations: Children's Hospital for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis, Medical Center "Dr Dragiša Mišović", Belgrade 11000, Serbia (Živković Z, Cerović S); Medical Faculty, University of Belgrade, Belgrade 11000, Serbia (Vukašinović Z); Pediatric Clinic, Medical Center Podgorica, Podgorica 38220, Montenegro (Radulović S, Adžović O); Pediatric Clinic, Medical Center Niš, Niš 18000, Serbia (Živanović S); Chest Department, Regional Health Center, Sombor 25000, Serbia (Panić E); Health Center, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia (Hadnadjev M)

Corresponding Author: Zorica Živković, MD, PhD, Children's Hospital for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis, Medical Center "Dr Dragiša Mišović", Jovana Marinovića 4, Belgrade 11000, Serbia (Tel: +381 11 2661887; Fax: +381 11 3066970; Email: zoricazivkovic@beotel.net)

Background: This is the first multi-center epidemio-logical study on the prevalence of childhood asthma in Serbia and Montenegro. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) phase 3 is a large epidemiological multinational and multicentric study on the prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema in children.

Methods: The 12-month period prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema was calculated using an ISAAC phase 3 questionnaire for two age groups: 6-7 years old and 13-14 years old.

Results: In the 13 485 children from five study centers who responded to the questionnaire, the prevalence for childhood asthma ranged from 2.5% to 9.8%, for allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (hay fever) from 4.6% to 21%, and for eczema from 8.2% to 17.2%. The prevalence of current wheezing was high in both age groups (16.5% and 12.4% respectively).

Conclusions: The prevalence of asthma is higher in 6-7 years old school children in the urban and largest cities of Belgrade and Nis, and in 13-14 years old children in Podgorica. The prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema in the school children of Serbia and Montenegro seems similar to that of other countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe.

Key words: asthma; children; eczema; prevalence; rhinitis

World J Pediatr 2010;6(4):331-336