Incidence and risk factors for asthma from childhood to young adulthood

• Aim: to estimate the incidence of physician-diagnosed asthma from 7-8 to 27-28 years of age and to study the strength of association with established risk factors by age at asthma onset.Method: In a longitudinal study about asthma and allergy within the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) studies, a cohort of children (n=3430) participated in questionnaire surveys and skin prick tests (SPT) at 7-8, 11-12 and 19y. At age 27-28y n=2088 (76% of invited) completed a postal questionnaire. Factors (sex, family history of asthma, allergic sensitization and in utero exposure to tobacco smoke (ETS)) related to the incidence of asthma at the different ages were analyzed by multinomial logistic regression with ‘never asthma’ as reference.Results: The incidence rates of physician-diagnosed asthma are presented in Figure 1. The incidence up to age 7-8y was related to allergic sensitization (OR 5.2) and family history of asthma (OR 3.6), and the associations became stronger for the incidence from 7-8 to 11-12y with ORs of 9.8 and 4.0 respectively. However, for the incidence from 11-12 to 19y, these associations became weaker and remained significant only for allergic sensitization (OR 3.0), and incidence after age 19y was not significantly associated with any variables. In utero ETS was a risk factor for the incidence of asthma from 11-12 to 19y (OR 1.6).Conclusion: The incidence rate of asthma differed by sex: it peaked at age 7-8y for boys and at 19y for girls. Family history of asthma and allergic sensitization were strongly related to the incidence of asthma in childhood up to age 12 years but the strength of association decreased with increasing age.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Lungmedicin och allergi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Respiratory Medicine and Allergy (hsv//eng)

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