title: Prospective study of short stature and newly diagnosed asthma in women.
abstract: The authors tested the hypothesis that short stature predicts adult-onset asthma independent of obesity among women in the Nurses' Health Study. Height, weight, and physician-diagnosed asthma were assessed with validated questionnaire items. Proportional hazard models adjusted separately for weight and body mass index. The rate of newly diagnosed asthma was 1.55 times greater in the shortest versus the tallest quintile after adjustment for weight (95% CI, 1.26-1.91). After adjustment for body mass index, the rate ratio was 1.16 (95% CI, 0.94-1.42). Short stature predicted adult-onset asthma in a large cohort of women, but this association was not independent of obesity.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.forename: Frank E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Speizer
authors.forename: R Graham
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Barr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D011446:Prospective Studies; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis; D012907:Smoking; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016387:Women's Health