Prevalence of asthma among German adults: analysis of the German national telephone survey

Objective. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of asthma in German adults. Methods. This analysis used data of 8,318 German adults 18 years of age and older who had participated in the German National Telephone Survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional study. Results. The overall lifetime prevalence of asthma in German adults was 5.7%. It ranges between 4.3% in East and 6.0% in West Germany. Logistic regression analysis showed that asthma was associated with unemployment, younger age, and living in West Germany. Conclusion. This study provides further evidence that differences exist in the prevalence of asthma between East and West Germany.