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Birth weight, gestational age, fetal growth and childhood asthma hospitalization

Xiaoqin Liu1, Jørn Olsen, Esben Agerbo

  • 1Section for Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. lxq@soci.au.dk.

Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology : Official Journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
|March 8, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Lower birth weight and shorter gestational age increase childhood asthma hospitalization risk. Fetal growth and gestational age may play a causal role in asthma development.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Medicine
  • Epidemiology
  • Perinatal Health

Background:

  • Childhood asthma may originate during fetal development, impacting immunocompetence and respiratory organ formation.
  • Understanding prenatal factors is crucial for identifying early asthma risks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between short gestational age, low birth weight, fetal growth restriction, and childhood asthma hospitalization.
  • To quantify the risk of asthma hospitalization based on these fetal development parameters.

Main Methods:

  • A large-scale cohort study utilizing national registers from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, including over 5.5 million singleton births.
  • Children were followed from age three until asthma hospitalization, emigration, death, age 18, or study end.
  • Generalized estimating equations were used to calculate relative risks (RR) for asthma hospitalization.

Main Results:

  • Asthma hospitalization risk significantly increased with lower birth weight (RR=1.17 per 1000g decrease) and shorter gestational age (RR=1.05 per week decrease).
  • Being small for gestational age was linked to higher asthma hospitalization risk in term infants but not in preterm infants.

Conclusions:

  • Fetal growth and gestational age appear to play a significant role, either directly or indirectly, in the etiology of childhood asthma.
  • These findings highlight the importance of monitoring fetal development for asthma prevention strategies.
Abstract

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