Prevalence and associated factors for self-reported asthma in a Canadian population: The Canadian Community Health Survey, 2014

Background: Asthma prevalence is increasing among adults, yet limited information regarding the association between adult asthma and environmental and personal exposures is available using large nationally representative population-based survey. Objective: To determine the prevalence of asthma and associated factors for self-reported asthma in a Canadian population aged 12 years and older by using the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2014 cross-sectional cohort. Methods: We used data from the 2014 CCHS. Asthma was determined through self-reported health professional diagnosis. Information regarding covariates of importance, such as socio-economic status, life style variables, was obtained. A weighted logistic regression analysis was performed with appropriate technique for clustering effects. Results: Estimated self-reported asthma prevalence of 8.1% in the greater than 12 years old Canadian population was observed. We found that a substantial proportion of Canadians (aged 12 and older) reported having asthma and geographical differences and differences between specific provinces in asthma prevalence. Women had higher prevalence of asthma than men, but the relationship depended on age and body mass index (BMI). Interactions between household income and smoking status were observed to predict the probability of asthma. Conclusions: Additional studies are needed to determine which factors influence the asthma prevalence between sex, BMI as well as smoking status and household income and its interactions with each other.