[A statistical investigation of the influence of allergic factors on intractable asthma by multiple logistic...

The relationships of the development of intractability in bronchial asthma with 17 factors, namely 1) sex, 2) age, 3) age of onset, 4) period from onset, 5) severity of asthma, 6) type of asthma, 7) family history of asthma within the third degree of consanguinity, 8) history of smoking, 9) past history of atopic dermatitis, 10) past history of allergic rhinitis, 11) past history of chronic sinusitis, 12) past history of nasal polyp, 13) necessity of oral beta-adrenergic agonists, 14) necessity of inhaled beta-adrenergic agonists, 15) necessity of oral xanthine agents, 16) necessity of inhaled anticholinergic agents and 17) necessity of inhaled corticosteroids, were analyzed by multiple logistic regression in 160 asthmatic patients. Evaluation of each factor according to the relative risk indicated that asthmatic patients tended to become intractable with the following categories (relative risk--reference category): more than 40 years old (5.2 in the fifth and sixth decades, 4.4 in the seventh and eighth decades--the third and fourth decades); the fifth decade or later onset (7.3--the first decade); non-atopic type (2.1--atopic type); positive family history of asthma (2.8--negative one); an ex- and current smoker (3.1--no smoker); negative past histories of atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis (4.1 in the former, 2.4 in the latter--positive one respectively); positive past histories of chronic sinusitis and nasal polyp (5.1 in the former, 6.6 in the latter--negative one respectively). Especially, relative risk in asthmatic patients with simultaneous positive past histories of chronic sinusitis and nasal polyp was about 16 times as high as in ones without both histories. This finding suggested these histories strongly participated in the development of intractability in bronchial asthma.