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Introduction: Bronchial asthma is one of the frequent chronic diseases in elderly persons. Global data show that 6.5-17% of the elderly suffer from asthma. However, there are no Polish data available on asthma prevalence in this group. Aim: This article is a retrospective analysis of the Polish Multicentre Study of Epidemiology of Allergic Diseases (PMSEAD) results aimed at assessing prevalence and clinical characteristics in the elderly. Material and methods: The study was conducted in 1998-1999 in 11 research centres in Poland, including the Lodz centre. The study included randomly selected subjects of both sexes. Demographics and prevalence were assessed among adults (aged 16-80 years) based on the nationwide database and the detailed clinical analysis was based on the Lodz centre database. Results: Nationwide data were obtained from 12 970 adults, including 1057 respondents in the Lodz Province; 20.3% of respondents in Poland and 23.6% in the Lodz Province were over 60 years of age. In both groups, elderly participants significantly more frequently suffered from asthma (asthma prevalence in this group was 6.7% for Poland and 12.0% for the Lodz Province). The multivariate analysis demonstrated that age over 60 years (OR = 2.08), residence in the city centre (OR = 3.30), and occurrence of seasonal allergic rhinitis (OR = 3.11) were significant risk factors for asthma occurrence among the residents of the Lodz Province. Among the elderly in Lodz, almost 50% of patients with asthma had not had a proper diagnosis made despite reporting clinical symptoms. Conclusions: In Poland asthma is a common and frequently underdiagnosed disease in the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]