Browsing by Subject "Asthma - in infancy and childhood"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    The prevalence of childhood asthma in white primary schoolchildren in the southern suburbs of Cape Town
    (1993) Nagel, Frederick Otto
    The author participated in an international survey organised by the British Medical Research Council (MRC) epidemiological unit in Cardiff, Wales which set out to compare the prevalence of asthma in several countries. The motivation for participating in this study was that very little previous prevalence data for asthma is available for coloured or white children in South Africa. A protocol designed by the British MRC Epidaemiology Unit was followed. One thousand one hundred and seventy four white children aged 12 years attending a random selection of primary schools in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town were studied. A standard MRC questionnaire on asthma was completed by parents. The subjects then underwent an exercise challenge test (ECT) which involved running on the level for six minutes. During the ECT, we measured the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEVl) before and after the exercise. A fall in post exercise FEVl of 15% or greater was regarded as evidence of bronchoconstriction and considered diagnostic of asthma. This method is thought to identify 70-90% of asthmatics (Anderson 1985, Lee et al 1989, Pierson 1988). Using this criterion, 52 (4.4%) of the children had asthma. The prevalence of 4.4% in this study is higher than 3.1% reported in a previous study of black children in Guguletu (Van Niekerk et al, Clinical Allergy 1979). However, the age spectrum of children was different in that study. Terblanche et al (1990) report the prevalence of exercise induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) in white and coloured children to be 5.87% and 4.05% respectively. The level of FEVl reduction for a diagnosis of EIB approved for this study was lower than usually accepted. Using conventional criteria for a diagnosis of EIB, Burr et al (1989) reported a prevalence of 7.7% in Cardiff, Wales. This study confirms that exercise induced asthma is a common problem in 12-year old white children in Cape Town.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Spirometric studies in children, with special reference to asthma
    (1959) Heese, Hans de Villiers
    This thesis is a report on the value and limitations of the practical application of the Forced Expiratory Volume and Forced Vital Capacity test in children aged from 7 to 16 years. The first part deals with review of the literature on lung function and evolution of the Forced Expiratory Volume and Forced Vital Capacity test. The method and apparatus used in the test, the establishment of "normal values", the correlation of these values and certain anthropometric data, the establishment of prediction formulae for normal values, a study of the effect of factors such as sex, "learning" and repeatability, posture, daily and day-to-day variations, and the inhalation of isoprenaline on these normal values are reported. The second part deals with the practical application of the test in various pathological conditions affecting the cardio-respiratory system. The effect of respiratory disorders on ventilatory function is reported and an attempt is made to assess the effect of management, medical treatment and prognosis of a respiratory disorder at any given stage of that disorder acknowledging always that the complete evaluation of a patient requires more than laboratory tests.