Divergent trends in the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms and asthma in a developing country: three repeated surveys between 2002 and 2016

There have been differences in temporal trends of asthma prevalence by geographic region and economic prosperity. The aim of this study was to assess temporal trends in asthma prevalence among young adolescents in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia as a developing country with a low asthma prevalence. Data were obtained from three cross-sectional surveys (2002, 2006, and 2016) of adolescents (12–15 years) from randomly selected schools in Skopje. Trends in the prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms were investigated descriptively and using multiple logistic regression to adjust for potential confounding factors. The prevalence of asthma increased, although the changes were not statistically significant (2002: 1.7%; 2006: 2.0%; 2016: 2.8%; p=0.075). Statistically significant (p