Objectives: This article describes trends in the prevalence of asthma among children aged 0 to 14 from 1978/79 to 1994/95, and in hospital separations for asthma from 1974/75 to 1994/95. It also examines factors associated with childhood asthma.
Data sources: Information on asthma among children aged 0 to 11 is from the 1994/95 National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), and among children aged 12 to 14, from the 1994/95 National Population Health Survey (NPHS). Hospital separation data are from the Hospital Morbidity File. Mortality data are from the Canadian Vital Statistics Data Base.
Analytical techniques: Prevalence estimates of asthma were calculated based on a sample of 22,831 children aged 0 to 11 from the NLSCY and 637 children aged 12 to 14 from the NPHS. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of asthma among children aged 0 to 11 by selected characteristics.
Main results: The prevalence of childhood asthma and hospital separations rates for asthma have increased sharply. A history of bronchitis and allergies, parental asthma, and residence in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec are associated with higher rates of asthma in children.