▲ (from the left) Professors Yeon-Mok Oh, Sei Won Lee, and Jae Seung Lee from the Division of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine at Asan Medical Center

According to a recent study, the prevalence of asthma among individuals in their 20s has marked a sevenfold increase over the past decade, with approximately five out of every 100 people in their 20s now suffering from asthma.

The study was conducted by a research team comprising Professors Yeon-Mok Oh, Sei Won Lee, and Jae Seung Lee of the Division of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine at Asan Medical Center. They analyzed data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey, studying information on more than 92,000 individuals between 2007 and 2018. The primary objective was to investigate changes in asthma prevalence across various age groups. The results of the analysis revealed a significant rise in the prevalence of asthma among individuals in their 20s, increasing from around 0.7% in 2007 to about 5.1% in 2018. This prevalence surpassed even the rates observed in age groups where asthma is more commonly found, such as people in their 60s (approximately 3.8%) and 70s (around 4.6%). Interestingly, while the prevalence of asthma among those in their 20s was the lowest in 2007, together with individuals in their 30s, it has shown the most substantial increase across all age groups over the years.

▲ Professor Yeon-Mok Oh is consulting an asthma patient in his 20s

The research team also conducted a multivariate logistic regression analysis to measure how actual asthma development correlates with factors associated with asthma, including allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, gender, income, education level, and smoking experience. Among these factors, only allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis showed statistically significant correlations with asthma. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis among individuals in their 20s increased significantly from 17.2% in 2007 to 23.5% in 2018, while atopic dermatitis rose from 5.9% in 2007 to 11.7% in 2018. Additionally, the proportion of asthma patients with allergic rhinitis was 44.6%, and with atopic dermatitis was 25.3%, both more than twice as high as those without asthma, who had rates of 20.6% and 8%, respectively.

Professor Yeon-Mok Oh commented on the findings, stating, "This study revealed that the recent surge in asthma cases among individuals in their 20s is linked to allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. Further research will be conducted to investigate the root cause."

The research findings were recently published in the ‘Journal of Thoracic Disease,’ an esteemed international academic journal.