Risk factors leading to hospital admission in Iranian asthmatic children

Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, leading to an increased rate of hospitalization. We performed this study to better understand the factors leading to admission among asthmatic children. Methods: We performed a study among asthmatic children in a referral hospital for asthma and allergy in Tehran. Sixty-three cases were selected from asthmatic children admitted to the emergency room (ER) who still had an indication for ward or intensive care unit admission after primary treatment. Our control group was the asthmatic children discharged after primary treatment and patients who were referred to the asthma and allergy clinic (63 patients). Data were obtained by structured questionnaires filled out during clinical interviews. Results: There was a significant difference in mean age (5 years for cases vs. 6 years for controls; p = 0.049), personal and familial allergic history (69.8 and 57.1% for cases vs. 34.9 and 36.5% for controls; p < 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively), history of recent respiratory infections (79.4% for cases vs. 49.2% for controls; p < 0.01), hospitalization history due to asthma (57.1% for cases vs. 23.8% for controls; p < 0.01) and regular use of inhaled corticosteroid (66.7% for cases vs. 33.3% for controls; p < 0.01). Conclusions: Our findings confirm most previous observations, suggesting that recent respiratory infections, hospitalization, personal or familial allergy, disease severity and lower ages are important factors leading to hospitalization. We also found that regular clinical follow-up, regular use of inhaled corticosteroids, higher IgE levels and O-2 saturation may lower the probability of hospitalization during asthmatic attacks. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.