Inducing Factors Of Childhood Asthma Exacerbation In Shanghai

OBJECTIVE To describe the inducing factors and clinical characteristics of childhood asthma exacerbation by conducting a large hospital-based cross-sectional survey.To explore the effects of age,gender and history of allergic diseases on these inducing factors.METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted in Xinhua Hospital,Shanghai,from June 2015 to January 2016.The subjects were children aged 12 years and younger with a diagnosed asthma according to the definition of the Global Initiative for Asthma(GINA).The demographic characteristics,inducing factors of asthma exacerbation,individual and family history of allergic diseases of these children were described and analyzed.Multiple logistic regressions were performed to calculate the odds ratio(OR)to investigate the relationship between age,gender,history of allergic diseases and these inducing factors.RESULTS A total of 682 asthmatic children were included,with 410(60.1%)male and 272(39.9%)female.The median age was 5.3(4.6-7.2)years old.Respiratory tract infection was the most common inducing factor of childhood asthma exacerbation(88.3%),followed by house dust(42.5%),cold air(29.6%),food(29.3%),pollen(13.9%),exercise(11.9%),chemical odors(10.0%).Boys had increased prevalence of pollen-induced and exercise-induced asthma exacerbation compared to girls.Children aged 6 years and older tended to have inhaled factors such as house dust and pollen,while younger children(<6 years old)had a higher possibility to react to certain food.Significant associations between individual history of allergic diseases(atopic dermatitis,allergic rhinitis and food allergy)and several inducing factors were observed.CONCLUSIONS Respiratory tract infection was the main inducing factor of childhood asthma exacerbation.Age,gender and individual history of allergic diseases had a significant impact on the distribution of inducing factors.