title: Longitudinal patterns of predominant asthma disease activity in pediatric patients enrolled in an asthma-specific disease management program.
abstract: To determine if patterns of predominant asthma disease activity are more closely related than baseline asthma severity to measures of morbidity (acute asthma attack, emergency room visit/hospitalization, missed school days, and/or steroid burst). Retrospective analysis was performed for inner-city Los Angeles asthmatic children (3 to 18 years of age) during their first year of enrollment in an asthma-specific disease management program. All measures of morbidity were more closely related to patterns of predominant disease activity than baseline severity. We conclude that patterns of predominant disease activity are a more significant predictor of asthma morbidity than is baseline severity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology, University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles County, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. lynescottmd@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Lyne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Breck
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.forename: Kenny Yat
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Choi Kwong
authors.forename: Tricia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morphew
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index