Table 1 Patient characteristics of the study population
| Â | Total study population (74,580) | Asthma medication users (5,605) | Children with doctor-diagnosed asthma (3,064) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | N | % | N | % | N | % |
Gender | ||||||
   Male | 38,267 | 51.3 | 3,160 | 56.4 | 1,775 | 57.9 |
   Female | 36,313 | 48.7 | 2,445 | 43.6 | 1,289 | 42.1 |
Age (years) | ||||||
   0–2 | 9,030 | 12.1 | 1053 | 18.8 | 540 | 17.6 |
   3–5 | 12,690 | 17.0 | 1300 | 23.2 | 689 | 22.5 |
   6–8 | 13,357 | 17.9 | 1004 | 17.9 | 589 | 19.2 |
   9–11 | 13,521 | 18.1 | 853 | 15.2 | 490 | 16.0 |
   12–14 | 13,087 | 17.6 | 738 | 13.2 | 445 | 14.5 |
   15–17 | 12,895 | 17.3 | 657 | 11.7 | 311 | 10.2 |
Other respiratory problems | ||||||
   shortness of breath | 367 | 0.5 | 240 | 4.3 | 101 | 3.3 |
   wheezing | 176 | 0.2 | 144 | 2.6 | 46 | 1.5 |
   acute URTI* | 6307 | 8.5 | 1122 | 20.0 | 530 | 17.3 |
   acute bronchitis/bronchiolitis | 2269 | 3.0 | 1002 | 17.9 | 406 | 13.3 |
   pneumonia | 679 | 0.9 | 254 | 4.5 | 129 | 4.2 |
   allergic rhinitis | 1983 | 2.7 | 394 | 7.0 | 223 | 7.3 |
Number of contacts with GP | ||||||
   0 | 22784 | 30.5 | 240 | 4.3 | 0 | 0 |
   1–2 | 26725 | 35.8 | 1314 | 23.4 | 658 | 21.5 |
   ≥3 | 25071 | 33.6 | 4051 | 72.3 | 2406 | 78.5 |
Oral corticosteroid use | 337 | 0.5 | 188 | 3.4 | 143 | 4.7 |
At least 1 parent with doctor-diagnosed asthma^ | 3106 | 4.3 | 483 | 8.9 | 312 | 10.5 |