The evaluation of asthma by gender and age groups in Turkey, in 1990-2019: incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and prevalence of asthma, asthma-related DALYs and deaths, and risk factors for asthma by genders and age groups during the study years in Turkey. Methods: The data used in the study were obtained from the estimation data prepared by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on asthma for Turkey by the global burden of disease study covering the years 1990-2019. During the study years period, death from asthma and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) were used as dependent variables. In addition, the effects of Occupational Asthmagens (OA), Smoking (SM), and High Body Mass Index (HBMI), which are known as risk factors for asthma-related deaths and DALYs, were investigated. Comparisons of the variables according to gender and age groups were made with the Mann-Whitney test. The relationships between the variables were examined with the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (Rho). Results: A statistically significant difference was found between the mean rank of total prevalence number, total incidence number, total number of deaths and DALYs scores by gender. Asthma-related deaths due to risk factors (OA, HBMI, SM) were found to be correlated with DALYs and the total number of asthma deaths. Total asthma deaths, and asthma-related deaths because of HBMI and DALYs because of HBMI-induced asthma in women; deaths from asthma because of OA, SM, and DALYs from asthma because of OA and SM were found to be higher in males. Conclusion: HBMI in women and SM and OA in men stand out as risk factors. Therefore, as a result of a detailed investigation of the risk factors leading to the development of asthma, policies should be developed for gender and age groups, and necessary precautions should be taken.