Tong Zhou Centre
Phase One | Phase Two | Phase Three | |||
Centre: | Tong Zhou, China ( Asia-Pacific ) | ||||
Principal Investigator: | Professor Yu-Zhi Chen | ||||
Age Groups: | 13-14 | Timeframe: | November 2001 to January 2002 | ||
Sampling Frame: | 13-14yr: Some schools in Tongzhou |
Personnel
Personnel
Professor Yu-Zhi Chen
Capital Institute of Pediatrics
No 2 Ya Bao Road
Beijing
China
Roles:
- National Coordinator for China
- Phase Three Principal Investigator for Tong Zhou
ISAAC in China
China is a very large country, and there were several studies about asthma prevalence in1990 and also in 2000. A nationwide and randomized survey on the prevalence of childhood asthma in 2000, compared with the same study in 1990, covered 31 provinces and 43 cities, including a population of 437873 children aged 0-14 years. The results show us that there was a concerning increase in asthma prevalence. But they had a different methodology than ISAAC Study. For this reason we considered it very important to join ISAAC. We thought joining the ISAAC study would let us get data about asthma and allergies prevalence in different cities in China and give us the opportunity of comparing our data with the data of other countries involved in this study. With ISAAC we also expected to achieve a better understanding and treatment of our patients.
When we knew that an international study about asthma and allergies was being prepared. We were very enthusiastic about including 5 cities of mainland China in that study in 1994 ISAAC Phase One. The 5 cities were Beijing, Shanghai, GuangZhou, Chongqing and Urumuqi, and we worked very hard do the study.
In ISAAC Phase Two study, as the study was more difficult than Phase One, and only needed a few centres to take part in it, we chose 2 centres, Beijing and Guangzhou, to join the Phase Two study. Expecially, our team did a lot of difficult work in the study. For example, in the dust collection work, you could imagine how hard it was to go to 200 children’s home when the pupils were dismissed from school, and to get the dust from those children’s bed, floor, etc.
In Phase Three China, a new centre, Tongzhou (Beijing rural) was added to the study in the 13-14 years group. Tongzhou is an area about 50km away from the Beijing urban city that included children from farmland. It was very important to have the centre within the study, so we could compare the result of Tongzhou with Beijing urban city, and to have a better understanding of the prevalence and machanism of asthma and allergic diseases. And finally, we found that the wheezing and allergic diseases prevalence were much lower in rural Beijing students than in urban Beijing students, and also the prevalence of positive allergy of SPT was much lower in rural Beijing students than in urban Beijing students.
Overall, in 12 years of ISAAC Study from Phase I to Phase III, about 90,000 chinese children joined the study, and 25,000 Beijing children joined the study.
And more, for the I-III ISAAC Study, we got the award of "Science and Technology Advancement Prize" awarded by the Beijing Municipal Government in 2006, and recieved 20000 RMB prize.