Prevalence of Asthma and Rhinitis Symptoms Among Secondary School Students in Saudi Arabia

Cross sectional survey based on ISAAC protocol to characterize the symptoms of asthma and rhinitis and measure their frequency and its prevalence among secondary schools students (age 15 to 18 years, boys and girls) in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia in period from 1st of April 2010 to 31st of May 2010. The ISAAC protocol stated that the study population should consist of at least 3,000 students aged 15-18 years- in this case, enrolled in at least 40 randomly selected schools. The 15-18 year age group was chosen because it is the age most adolescents go to school regularly, making data collection easier. Once requested by the research team, the education authority will provide a list of all secondary schools in Riyadh city and the number of students by school and their grades. There are 400 secondary schools for boys and 400 school for girls (total number of boys and girls students 50,000). A two stage stratified random sample of 4000 students will be selected out of secondary schools for boys and girls , Their ages range from 16 to 18 years.