This shows the variations in the prevalence of wheeze, wheeze with breathlessness, and being woken by shortness of breath in adults from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). These ranged from 8.5% (Pavia, Italy) to 32.0% (Dublin), 1.4% (Verona, Italy) to 16.3% (Caerphilly, UK) and 1.5% (Iceland) to 11.3% (Huelva, Spain), respectively. In general, the prevalence of symptoms tended to be higher in Northern Europe compared with Southern Europe, though there were exceptions. The study also found variations in the prevalence of symptoms within some countries: in Spain, for example, the prevalence of wheeze in the last year was 16.2% in Galdakao and 29.2% in Huelva. Reported attacks of asthma were more common where there was a high prevalence of reported nasal allergies. In general, the highest prevalence of symptoms was found in English-speaking centers. It is not known if translations of the questionnaire are less sensitive at detecting symptoms.