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Clinical features predictive of exercise‐induced asthma in children
Author(s) -
NOLAN P
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
respirology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1440-1843
pISSN - 1323-7799
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1843.1996.tb00033.x
Subject(s) - medicine , asymptomatic , asthma , cohort , lung function , physical therapy , population , pediatrics , lung , environmental health
Exercise‐induced asthma (EIA) is a common symptom among young asthmatics. The hypothesis that asymptomatic day‐to‐day wide fluctuations in lung function and asymptomatic persistent airflow obstruction are risk factors for the development of EIA was studied. The study population was a cohort of known asthmatic children aged 9–14 years attending a residential asthma camp. The method involved the observation of baseline expiratory peak flow recordings (PEFR) for 5 days while the children were receiving their usual maintenance therapy. The method also included the determination of FEV 1 pre‐ and post‐ 15 min of continuous aerobic exercise. Exercise‐induced asthma was expressed as the Lability index (LI). The findings were that LI was significantly correlated ( P < 0.01) with the mean PEFR as a per cent of each child's predicted PEFR. The lability index also correlated ( P < 0.01) with the degree of day‐to‐day variability in PEFR expressed as the coefficient of variance (CV). It is concluded that there is a significant correlation between baseline asthma control and the development of EIA. In addition to recommending pre‐exercise prophylaxis, practitioners should investigate overall asthma control in children reporting EIA.