Poor Asthma Control in Schoolchildren May Lead to Lower Lung Function Trajectory from Childhood to Early Adulthood: A Japanese Cohort Study

Abstract

Shingo Tsuneyoshi,1 Tomotaka Kawayama,1 Jun Sasaki,1 Takashi Kinoshita,1 Chiyo Yano,1 Yoshihisa Tokunaga,1 Masanobu Matsuoka,1 Haruki Imaoka,1 Kazuko Matsunaga,1 Kyoji Furukawa,2 Tomoaki Hoshino1 1Division of Respirology, Neurology, and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan; 2Biostatistics Center, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, JapanCorrespondence: Tomotaka Kawayama, Division of Respirology, Neurology, and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume, 830-0011, Japan, Email [email protected]: Although childhood asthma is a risk factor for adult lung function disorders, the correlation between childhood asthma control level and lung function growth remains unclear in Japan. The correlation between childhood asthma control and early adulthood lung function growth was investigated in this study.Patients and Methods: We included 505 children with asthma from the Omuta City Air Pollution-Related Health Damage Cohort Program. The characteristics and lung function of girls and boys aged 6– 11 years and 12– 17 years were compared between poor and good asthma control groups.Results: Among the 505 children, 214 (42.4%) showed poor asthma control. The mean percentage forced expiratory volume in 1 second predicted for girls and boys aged 6– 11 years (80.2% and 79.2%, respectively) and 12– 17 years (80.0% and 81.1%, respectively) in the poor control group was significantly lower than those of girls and boys aged 6– 11 years (87.9% and 87.3%, respectively) and 12– 17 years (88.1% and 87.8%, respectively) in the good control group. However, a linear regression model did not reveal between-group differences in the slopes of lung function growth for both sexes. Girls (24.6%, P < 0.0001) and boys (24.4%, P = 0.0026) in the poor control group had a significantly higher proportion of young adults with obstructive ventilatory patterns than girls (1.4%) and boys (8.1%) in the good control group.Conclusion: Our findings revealed that poor childhood asthma control leaded to lung function disorders, which suggest the importance of early asthma control in school children.Keywords: childhood asthma, airflow limitation, Japanese, transition, school-age children

Keywords

• childhood asthma
• airflow limitation
• japanese
• transition
• school-age children