The Asthma Predictive Index: a very useful tool for predicting asthma in young children.
Recurrent wheezing is a common problem in young children: approximately 40% of children wheeze in their first year of life. However, only 30% of preschoolers with recurrent wheezing still have asthma at the age of 6 years. Nevertheless, asthma, the most prevalent chronic disease in children, is difficult to diagnose in infants and preschoolers. This article reviews the importance of determining at an early age which infants/preschoolers will have asthma later in life, analyzes the pros and cons of different predictive indices, and discusses the efficacy of the Asthma Predictive Index.
Castro-Rodriguez
Jose A
JA
Departments of Pediatrics and Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. jacastro17@hotmail.com
D000367:Age Factors; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence