[Risk factors for early bronchiolitis at asthma during childhood: case-control study of asthmatics aged 4 to 12 years].
The group of general paediatrics of the French Paediatrics Society conducted a case-control study in order to verify the link between the occurrence of an acute bronchiolitis early during the first year of life, more specifically during the first trimester, and asthma during later childhood.


METHODS
Parents of 4-to-12-year-old children answered a questionnaire during a general paediatrics visit. Exposition was attested by a diagnosis of bronchiolitis mentioned on the personal health record of the child. Environmental factors and medical history, obtained from the parents and by checking the health record of the child, were studied using multivariate analysis.


RESULTS
Nineteen paediatricians included 80 children with asthma and 160 controls. Fifty-four per cent of asthmatic children had a medical history of bronchiolitis during the first year of life versus 17% of control children (P < 0.001). Mean age of bronchiolitis occurrence was 6.6 months in both groups (P = 0.98). Multivariate analysis showed that occurrence of bronchiolitis during the first year of life was significantly more frequent in asthmatic children (P < 0.001, OR = 5.6, IC95 = [2.6-11.6]) but this effect was not observed during the first trimester of life.


CONCLUSIONS
Bronchiolitis during the first year of life was significantly related to later asthma in 4-to-12-year-old children treated by general paediatricians. On the other hand, a very early bronchiolitis during the first trimester of life did not appear, in our set of data, as a contributive factor to explain asthma in later childhood.
Ploin
D
D
Unité de méthodologie en recherche clinique, département d'information médicale, Hospices civils de Lyon, 162, avenue Lacassagne, 69003 Lyon, France. dominique.ploin@chu-lyon.fr
Foucaud
P
P
Lemaire
J P
JP
Chevallier
B
B
Langue
J
J
Chapuis
F R
FR
Bloch
J
J
de Blic
J
J
Dommergues
J P
JP
D017668:Age of Onset; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D001988:Bronchiolitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors