title: Asthma: an increasing problem in children?
abstract: The study of asthma trend, nonhospitalized and hospitalized cases, and factors correlated with asthma admissions were carried out at Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health (Children's Hospital) between 1986-1995. Asthma OPD visits had increased significantly (r = 0.9039, p < 0.001). The age distribution of the cases are 0-2, 2-5, 5-10 and > 10 years old group. The number of visits in 0-2 and 2-5 years groups were significantly increased (r = 0.908, p = 0.000, r = 0.904, p = 0.000), while in 5-10 and >10 years old groups were not (r = 0.054, p = 0.137, r = -0.565, p = 0.089). Although the OPD visits were increasing, there was a decreasing trend in the age-adjusted percentage of admissions (r = -0.798, p = 0.006). The percentage of admissions was significantly decreased in 0-2, 2-5, and >10 years old groups (r = -0.881, p = 0.001, r = -0.632, p = 0.05, r = -0.815, p = 0.004, respectively). The correlation with the environment was observed (r = 0.915, p < 0.001). There was no correlation with allergic diseases in the family (r = 0.2825, p = 0.4). The 2,312 admission charts (86.69% of total IPD cases) were reviewed and there were 1,855 cases of true asthma. Almost 70% of cases were in the under-five age group and the male to female ratio was 1.3:1. The increasing trend in steroid use was observed (r = 0.693, p = 0.026), while the use of antibiotics was unchanged (r = 0.068, p = 0.852). The percentage of admissions began to decline in 1989 when the aerosolized beta-2 agonists were introduced in the hospital and declined further in 1991 when increased use of aerosolized therapy and prophylactic drugs was observed. Better patient education and regular follow-up care during the past five years are believed to be one of the major contributions to this reduction in admissions.
authors.affiliation: Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health, Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vangveeravong
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology