title: Associations of different phenotypes of wheezing illness in early childhood with environmental variables implicated in the aetiology of asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asthma is a complex heterogeneous disease that has increased in prevalence in many industrialised countries. However, the causes of asthma inception remain elusive. Consideration of sub-phenotypes of wheezing may reveal important clues to aetiological risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal phenotypes capturing population heterogeneity in wheezing reports from birth to 7 years were derived using latent class analysis in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Probability of class membership was used to examine the association between five wheezing phenotypes (transient early, prolonged early, intermediate-onset, late-onset, persistent) and early life risk factors for asthma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Phenotypes had similar patterns and strengths of associations with early environmental factors. Comparing transient early with prolonged early wheezing showed a similar pattern of association with most exposure variables considered in terms of the direction of the effect estimates but with prolonged early wheezing tending to have stronger associations than transient early wheezing except for parity and day care attendance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Associations with early life risk factors suggested that prolonged early wheeze might be a severe form of transient early wheezing. Although differences were found in the associations of early life risk factors with individual phenotypes, these did not point to novel aetiological pathways. Persistent wheezing phenotype has features suggesting overlap of early and late-onset phenotypes.
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom. raquel.granell@bris.ac.uk
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Granell
authors.forename: Jonathan A C
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sterne
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011247:Pregnancy; D012135:Respiratory Sounds