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Gender- and age-specific risk factors for wheeze from birth through adolescence

Sze Man Tse1,2, Brent A Coull3, Joanne E Sordillo1

  • 1Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Pediatric Pulmonology
|October 29, 2014
PubMed

Insights

This study identified gender-specific risk factors for childhood wheeze, finding maternal asthma affects both genders, while paternal asthma and infant bronchiolitis pose risks only for boys. Early identification can personalize asthma treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Epidemiology
  • Genetics and Asthma

Background:

  • Longitudinal studies on gender-specific wheeze risk factors are limited.
  • Understanding early life influences on wheeze is crucial for effective intervention.
  • Wheeze prevalence shows cross-sectional gender differences, necessitating a longitudinal perspective.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify gender- and age-specific risk factors for wheeze from birth through adolescence.
  • To explore the impact of parental history of atopy on wheeze development.
  • To inform personalized asthma management strategies.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective birth cohort of 499 children with parental history of atopy was followed.
  • Wheeze incidence was recorded every six months up to age 14.
  • Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze gender- and age-specific risk factors.

Main Results:

  • Maternal asthma was a significant risk factor for wheeze in both girls (OR=2.05) and boys (OR=1.79).
  • Paternal asthma (OR=1.83) and infant bronchiolitis (OR=2.15) were identified as risk factors exclusively for boys.
  • These risk factors demonstrated consistent effects across different ages.

Conclusions:

  • This study successfully identified gender- and age-specific risk factors for wheeze in a birth cohort.
  • Recognizing gender-specific early-life risks can enable timely interventions.
  • Findings support a more personalized approach to asthma treatment and management.
Abstract

Keywords:
asthmabronchiolitisparental asthmasex differences

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