Asthma Remission by Age at Diagnosis and Gender in a Population-Based Study

Child-onset asthma is known to remit with high probability, but remission in adult-onset asthma is seemingly less frequent. Reports of the association between remission and asthma age of onset up to late adulthood are scarce.

To evaluate the association between asthma remission, age at diagnosis and gender, and assess risk factors of nonremission.

In 2016, a random sample of 16,000 subjects aged 20 to 69 years from Helsinki and Western Finland were sent a FinEsS questionnaire. Physician-diagnosed asthma was categorized by age at diagnosis to early- (0-11 years), intermediate- (12-39 years), and late-diagnosed (40-69 years) asthma. Asthma remission was defined by not having had asthma symptoms and not having used asthma medication in the past 12 months.

Totally, 8199 (51.5%) responded, and 879 reported physician-diagnosed asthma. Remission was most common in early-diagnosed (30.2%), followed by intermediate-diagnosed (17.9%), and least common in late-diagnosed asthma (5.0%) (P < .001), and the median times from diagnosis were 27, 18.5, and 10 years, respectively. In males, the corresponding remission rates were 36.7%, 20.0%, and 3.4%, and in females, 20.4%, 16.6%, and 5.9% (gender difference P < .001). In multivariable binary logistic regression analysis, significant risk factors of asthma nonremission were intermediate (odds ratio [OR] = 2.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.37-3.36) and late diagnosis (OR = 11.06, 4.82-25.37) compared with early diagnosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (OR = 5.56, 1.26-24.49), allergic rhinitis (OR = 2.28, 1.50-3.46), and family history of asthma (OR = 1.86, 1.22-2.85). Results were similar after excluding COPD.

Remission was rare in adults diagnosed with asthma after age 40 years in both genders. Late-diagnosed asthma was the most significant independent risk factor for nonremission.