Changes in asthma severity in the first year of school and difficulty learning to read.

Asthma is a risk factor for poor early reading in children, for reasons that are unclear. This analysis examines the relationship between changes in asthma severity during the first year of school and being in the lowest quartile of reading achievement after 1 year of school. We used previously unreported data from our cohort study.

Beginning school with asthma independently predicts low achievement in a prospective cohort of children.

Background: Concerns about the achievement of children with asthma and respiratory conditions are especially important in New Zealand, which has one of the world's highest rates of childhood asthma. The present study evaluated whether entering school with asthma was associated with low achievement after the first year.

Methods: A child cohort was recruited to a prospective study at time of first enrollment into randomly selected schools in Christchurch.