title: Monitoring asthma in childhood.
abstract: The goal of asthma treatment is to obtain clinical control and reduce future risks to the patient. However, to date there is limited evidence on how to monitor patients with asthma. Childhood asthma introduces specific challenges in terms of deciding what, when, how often, by whom and in whom different assessments of asthma should be performed. The age of the child, the fluctuating course of asthma severity, variability in clinical presentation, exacerbations, comorbidities, socioeconomic and psychosocial factors, and environmental exposures may all influence disease activity and, hence, monitoring strategies. These factors will be addressed in herein. We identified large knowledge gaps in the effects of different monitoring strategies in children with asthma. Studies into monitoring strategies are urgently needed, preferably in collaborative paediatric studies across countries and healthcare systems.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Paediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Karin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lødrup Carlsen
authors.affiliation: Dept of Paediatric/Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Erasmus MC - Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mariëlle W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Pijnenburg
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D018450:Disease Progression; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents