Risk factors associated with childhood asthma.

Objective: To identify the risk factors associated with childhood asthma, in children attending Isra University Hospital, Hyderabad.

Study Design: Case-control study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Isra University Hospital between September 2005 to August 2006.

Patients And Methods: The study included 398 age-matched children (200 asthmatic and 198 non-asthmatic). Information was collected concerning their familial history of atopy, birth weight, environment, breastfeeding, disease and treatment history. Odds ratio was calculated for determining the risk.

Results: The children were aged between 12 months and 8 years and 60% were male. The asthmatic children were hospitalized more frequently than the non-asthmatic children (p < 0.0001). Most of the asthmatic children lived in the urban areas of Hyderabad [odd ratio (OR) = 16.7, 95% CI = 3.1-14.6, p < 0.0001], had a parental history of asthma (OR = 26.8, 95% CI = 10.8-68.2, p < 0.0001) or allergic rhinitis (OR = 4, 95% CI = 1.2-13.4, p= 0.01), 38.5% had at least one person who smoked, and were weaned earlier than the non-asthmatic children (OR =12.4, 95% CI = 1.3-4.4, p < 0.01).

Conclusion: Childhood asthma was strongly associated with a family history of asthma and allergic rhinitis, the urban place of residence, having smokers as parents and early weaning from maternal breast milk. The results highlight the need to educate the parents about the risk of smoking and early weaning in the development of asthma.