چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background: Bronchial asthma is a common but important chronic disease in children in all over the
world. To take measures against prevalence of childhood asthma, many researchers have surveyed the
actual statuses of childhood asthma in developed countries, but in most AsiaePacific developing
countries including Mongolia such surveys have never been sufficiently conducted until now. We have
thought that this survey, though performed in 2009, will give important and meaningful information
even now in taking measures to prevent prevailing bronchial asthma in children in Mongolia or the
countries under similar statuses.
Methods: The asthma prevalence and patient background information in Mongolian children aged 6e7
living in Ulaanbaatar were examined using a written questionnaire modified for their parents from that
prepared by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC).
Results: The estimated prevalence of asthma in Mongolian children was 20.9%. The following 3 risk
factors were found to be related to asthma: (1) having allergic rhinitis symptoms, (2) mothers' smoking,
and (3) history of severe respiratory infection before 1-year-old.
Conclusions: The asthma prevalence in Mongolian children was higher than that in the world and Asia
ePacific countries reported by ISAAC. The higher prevalence was probably attributable to households'
(especially mothers) smoking in draft-free houses designed for the cold area and severe air-pollution due
to rapid industrialization and urbanization in Mongolia. Smoking prohibition in the mother (including
family members) and a reduction of exposure to air pollutants are urgently needed to prevent developing
childhood asthma.