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Toward a definition of asthma for epidemiology
B G Toelle1, J K Peat, C M Salome
1Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Insights
A new definition combining bronchial hyperresponsiveness and recent wheeze accurately identifies children with clinically significant asthma. This approach aids in measuring asthma prevalence in populations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Epidemiology
- Allergy and Immunology
Background:
- Defining asthma for epidemiological studies lacks a universal standard.
- Current definitions may not capture all clinically relevant asthma cases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish and validate a precise definition for current asthma in children.
- To characterize children based on bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and recent wheeze.
Main Methods:
- Studied 352 children aged 7-12 years from a population sample and self-identified asthmatics.
- Assessed BHR to histamine, respiratory symptoms, medication use, and atopy.
- Utilized Airflometer readings and symptom diaries for daily monitoring.
Main Results:
- Children meeting the 'current asthma' definition (BHR + recent wheeze) exhibited more severe BHR, Airflometer variability, symptoms, and atopy.
- Children with BHR alone were intermediate between the 'current asthma' and normal groups.
- Children with recent wheeze alone differed from normal controls mainly in symptoms and medication use.
Conclusions:
- The proposed definition of current asthma effectively distinguishes a clinically and physiologically distinct group of children.
- This definition is valuable for accurately measuring the prevalence of important asthma cases in population studies.
Abstract:
Because there is no "gold standard" for defining asthma for epidemiology, we have defined current asthma as bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) plus recent wheeze (in the 12 months prior to study). To describe the characteristics of groups categorized by these measurements, we studied two samples of children aged 7 to 12 yr: 210 from a population sample and 142 self-identified asthmatics. Bronchial responsiveness to histamine was measured by the rapid method, respiratory symptom history, and asthma medication use by self-administered questionnaire to parents and atopy by skin prick tests to 14 allergens. Children recorded daily Airflometer readings and symptom scores for 2 wk. Children with current asthma had more severe bronchial responsiveness, greater Airflometer variability, more symptoms, more atopy (particularly to house dust mites), and used more asthma medication than children with BHR or recent wheeze alone. Children with BHR, but not with recent wheeze, were intermediate between the current asthma and normal groups in terms of bronchial responsiveness, Airflometer variability, and atopy. Children with recent wheeze and normal responsiveness differed from the normal group only in symptoms and medication use. Our definition of current asthma discriminates a group of children that is clearly different in terms of both clinical features and physiologic measures. As such, it is the most useful definition to date for measuring the prevalence of clinically important asthma in populations.