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[Asthmatic children's risk factors for emergency room visits, Brazil]
M Chatkin1, A M Menezes, E Albernaz
1Departamento de Clínica Médica, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brasil. moema@pelotas.com.br
Insights
Asthma affects one in four preschool children in Pelotas, Brazil, leading to high emergency room visits. Key predictors for these visits include low maternal education, severe asthma attacks, and prior hospitalizations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Asthma is a prevalent chronic respiratory disease in childhood.
- Effective management and identification of risk factors for asthma exacerbations are crucial for reducing healthcare burden.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence of asthma in preschool children.
- To understand how caretakers manage childhood asthma.
- To identify factors predicting emergency room (ER) visits for asthma.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study was conducted within a cohort in Pelotas, Southern Brazil.
- 981 children aged 4-5 years from the 1993 birth cohort participated.
- Data were analyzed using crude and multivariate logistic regression.
Main Results:
- Asthma prevalence was 25.4% in the study sample.
- High morbidity was observed: 31% ER visits, 57% clinic visits, and 26% hospitalizations in the first 4 years.
- Predictors for ER visits included low maternal education, severe attacks, and previous hospitalizations.
Conclusions:
- The prevalence of asthma and associated morbidity are high in preschool children in Pelotas.
- Maternal education level, asthma attack severity, and history of hospitalization are significant predictors for emergency room visits.
- These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to reduce asthma-related emergency care in this population.
Objectives:
To study a sample of asthmatic children to get to know how the disease is managed by caretakers and to identify predictive factors associated with attendance in emergency room for asthma.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study nested in a cohort was undertaken in the urban area of Pelotas, Southern Brazil. 981 children aged 4-5 years, who belong to the cohort of 1993, participated in this study.
Results:
The asthma prevalence in the children sample was 25.4%. Morbidity for asthma was quite high: 31% of the children were seen in emergency rooms in the last year, 57% attended medical clinics and 26% were hospitalized in the first 4 years of life. The crude analysis identified the following predictive factors for emergency room visits: low educational level (RO=4.1), low family income (RO=6. 5), 3 or more children sleeping in the same room (RO=2.2), severity of asthma attacks (RO=2.7), use of asthma medicines in the last year (RO=1.9) and hospitalizations due to asthma (RO=3.0). Multivariate analyses using logistic regression were used to adjust each variable for the effect of the remainder.
Conclusions:
The asthma prevalence among preschool children in Pelotas is high, resulting therefore in high morbidity. The predictor factors for emergency room visits due to asthma found, after multivariate analysis, were mother's low educational level, severity of the asthma attacks and hospitalization.