Living at high altitude and risk of hospitalisation for atopic asthma in children: results from a large prospective birth-cohort study
| Autor: | M Schwaiger, C Haberland, Ursula Kiechl-Kohlendorfer, R Strobl, Dagmar Meraner, Karl-Heinz Gutenberger, Stefan Kiechl, W Mueller, Elisabeth Horak, FM Fink, H Reich |
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| Rok vydání: | 2007 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Allergy Pediatrics medicine.medical_specialty Short Report Disease Atopy Risk Factors Medicine Humans Medical history Prospective Studies Risk factor Prospective cohort study Asthma business.industry Altitude Infant Newborn medicine.disease Hospitalization Austria Pediatrics Perinatology and Child Health Female Seasons business Cohort study |
| Zdroj: | Archives of disease in childhood. 92(4) |
| ISSN: | 1468-2044 |
| Popis: | Asthma is among the most common chronic diseases in childhood and is steadily increasing in prevalence. Better characterisation of factors that determine the risk of hospitalisation for atopic asthma in childhood may help design prevention programmes and improve our understanding of disease pathobiology. This study will focus on the altitude of residence.This is an ongoing prospective birth-cohort study that enrolled all live-born infants in the Tyrol. Between 1994 and 1999, baseline data were collected for 33 808 infants. From 2000 to 2005, all children hospitalised for atopic asthma at the age ofor =6 years (n = 305) were identified by a careful search of hospital databases. Disease status was ascertained from the typical medical history, a thorough examination and proof of atopy.Living at higher altitude was associated with an enhanced risk of hospitalisation for atopic asthma (multivariate RRs (95% confidence interval 2.08 (1.45 to 2.98) and 1.49 (1.05 to 2.11) for a comparison between altitude categoriesor =1200 m and 900-1199 m versus900 m; p0.001). This finding applied equally to hospital admissions in spring, summer, autumn and winter. When altitude of residence was analysed as a continuous variable, the risk for asthma hospitalisation increased by 7% for each 100-m increase in altitude (p = 0.013).This large prospective study shows a significant association between the risk of hospitalisation for atopic asthma and altitude of residence between 450 and 1800 m. The underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated, but it is tempting to speculate about a role for altitude characteristics such as the decline in outdoor temperature and air humidity and increase in ozone levels, which may trigger airway hyper-responsiveness and attenuate lung function. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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