[Risk factors for hospital admissions among asthmatic children and adolescents].
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence rate and risk factors for hospital admissions among asthma children and to evaluate care delivered to these patients.


METHODS
Three-hundred and twenty-five asthmatic children attending a public outpatient reference clinic were studied. Of them, 202 were hospitalized. Care was evaluated using a questionnaire covering general aspects of hospital stay and biological, demographics, socioeconomic and asthma-related factors. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to measure the association between hospital admissions and selected independent variables.


RESULTS
Of the total, 62.2% had already been hospitalized due to asthma, 64.9% developed asthma episodes, and 60.9% were hospitalized in their first year of life. Most (76.0%) had moderate to severe asthma. Despite that, 94.2% were not on anti-inflammatory drugs and were treated only during isolated acute episodes. None of these were regularly seen in primary health care centers for a periodic control of their steroid inhalants. Most parents (97.8%) referred not to know how to take care of asthma children. Symptoms onset is normally seen before the age of 12 months (OR=3.20; 95%CI 1.55-6,61) or between 12 and 24 months (OR=3.89; 95%CI 1.62-9.36). Mothers have attended school for less than 7 years (OR=3.06; 95%CI 1.62-5.76). Disease severity (OR=2.32; 95%CI 1.24-3.88), 2 or more monthly visits to emergency wards (OR=2.19; 95%CI 1.24-3.88), and referred recurrent pneumonia (OR=2.00; 95%IC 1.06-3.80) were the main risk factors for hospital admissions.


CONCLUSIONS
Organizing health care services is crucial to reduce hospital admissions and provide adequate care for asthma children and adolescents, especially those less than 2 years old.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
Fatores de risco para hospitalização de crianças e adolescentes asmáticos.