The High Prevalence of Rhinitis, Rhinoconjunctivitis, and Eczema in Costa Rican Schoolchildren Studied with the ISAAC Protocol

Abstract

The aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence and severity of allergic rhinitis, rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema in Costa Rican schoolchildren. We have reported asthma prevalence in the same cohort elsewhere. A questionnaire based survey was conducted on a random sample of children (n = 6144), aged 6-7 years and 13-14 years from 75 educational centers throughout Costa Rica, using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) protocol. The prevalence in the 6- to 7-year-old group of rhinitis ever was 32.7%, rhinitis in the last 12 months 26.6%, and rhinoconjunctivitis 12.1%. In the 13- to 14-yearold group, the presence of rhinitis ever was 39.2%, rhinitis in the last 12 months 30.9% and rhinoconjunctivitis 14.8, showing significantly higher figures for the older group (p = 0.001, p = 0.0001, p = 0.001). The prevalence of "ever having had a diagnosis of rhinitis" (by a physician) was 5.9% and 4.8% in the two age groups (NS). Children were more affected during the rainy season, M...