A Meta-analysis of asthma and wheeze prevalence among preschool and
school-aged children in Africa.
Abstract
Background: Asthma and wheezing are significant health concerns
for children in Africa. There is a dearth of prior research examining
the occurrence of asthma and wheezing in both preschool and school-aged
children within the African environment. Therefore, this meta-analysis
aimed to estimate the prevalence of asthma and wheezing in African
infants from zero months to children eight years of age.
Methods: An electronic search was conducted in July 2023 in
Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Academic Search
Complete for studies published from January 2012 to July 2023 using the
following subject-specific terms: 1. “Risk factors” OR “Contributing
factors” OR “Predisposing factors” OR “Predictor” OR “Cause” OR
“Prevalence” OR “Trends” 2. “Asthma” OR “Wheeze” OR “Wheezing”
OR “Asthma symptoms”, 3. “Preschool” OR “early childhood” OR
“kindergarten” OR “0 to 8 years” OR “School children”, 4. Africa/
or, 5. limit to (English language and year=“2012 -Current” and
children). STATA 17 software and a fixed effects model were utilized.
Heterogeneity was assessed using I2. Results: The study
revealed a prevalence of asthma in preschool and school-aged children of
4.41%, with no heterogeneity observed ( I2 <0).
Wheezing in the past prevalence rate was 22.91%, also without
heterogeneity ( I2 <0), with no significant differences
observed among the studies. This indicates a lack of heterogeneity in
studies for asthma and wheezing prevalence rates. Conclusions:
Asthma and wheezing are prevalent among African preschool and
school-aged children, highlighting the need for comprehensive and
localized research to address this public health issue.