Reversibility of asthma-like symptoms and lung function growth over two-year follow-up in preadolescent children

The interesting feature of childhood asthma is the great reversibility of symptoms. The main purpose of this study was to assess the effect of persistent and reversed asthma-like symptoms on lung function growth in preadolescent children.

The follow-up respiratory health survey has been conducted in the sample of 1129 children aged 9 yrs over two years follow-up. The basic health end-points was the occurrence of asthma-like symptoms and the slower lung function growth (SLFG).

Adjusted OR for SLFG(FVC) was significantly higher only in the children having the continued symptoms(OR = 3.40; 95% CI: 1.32-8.77). There was a consistent trend of adjusted ORs for SLFG(FEV1) with the category of symptoms, where OR was 1.46 (95% CI: 1.02-2.10) in children with recent new symptoms; 2.06; (95% CI: 0.93-4.58) in those with symptoms remitted, while 3.46; (95% CI: 1.43-8.40) in children who had persistent symptoms. The corresponding ORs for SLFG(FEF25-75%) were 2.03; (95% CI: 0.97-4.28), 2.63; (95% CI: 1.38-4.99), and 5.84; (95% CI: 2.53-13.50).

The consistent association between reversibility of asthma-like symptoms and lung function gain in preadolescent children confirmed the clinical significance of the symptoms in question. The observed slower lung function gain in preadolescence may have implications for the development of chronic lung disease later in adulthood.