Association of airway responsiveness with asthma and persistent wheeze in a Chinese population.
OBJECTIVE
Data from a cross-sectional study were analyzed to examine the association of increased airway responsiveness with physician-diagnosed asthma and persistent wheeze.


METHODS
Two methods for calculating the provocative dose that decreases the airflow rate by 20% (PD(20)) were used as indexes for increased airway responsiveness: (1) a 20% drop in FEV(1) calculated from baseline FEV(1) (PD(20)b), and (2) a 20% drop in FEV(1) from FEV(1) measurements after inhalation of saline solution (PD(20)s). Both PD(20)b and PD(20)s were measured through induction by varying doses of methacholine.


METHODS
Anqing, Anhui Province, China.


METHODS
Study subjects were 8 to 74 years of age and were classified into four groups: children (< 15 years old), young adults (15 to 29 years old), adults (30 to 44 years old), and older adults (> or 5 years old).


METHODS
The differences in estimated odds ratios of airway hyperresponsiveness with asthma and wheeze, sensitivity and specificity, and coefficients of variation were compared between PD(20)b and PD(20)s. The sample for analysis consisted of 10,284 subjects from 2,663 nuclear families with complete data on wheeze, asthma, and major potential confounding factors.


RESULTS
The prevalence of asthma in this sample was lowest in subjects with no demonstrable PD(20) and had a reverse dose-response relationship with PD(20) across all age groups. Using the receiver operating characteristic, the sensitivity and specificity of the PD(20)s or PD(20)b were found to be almost identical. A similar trend was found for persistent wheeze, although the estimated odds ratios for persistent wheeze appeared slightly smaller than those for physician-diagnosed asthma.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates a dose-response relationship between increased airway responsiveness and asthma and wheeze in this Chinese population. PD(20)s or PD(20)b yielded virtually indistinguishable results, which indicated that either of the two tests could serve as an index of airway hyperresponsiveness.
Xu
X
X
Program of Population Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. xxu@ppg.harvard.edu
Niu
T
T
Chen
C
C
Wang
B
B
Jin
Y
Y
Yang
J
J
Weiss
S T
ST
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D016085:Bronchoconstrictor Agents; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016210:Methacholine Chloride; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012372:ROC Curve; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D016085:Bronchoconstrictor Agents; D016210:Methacholine Chloride