Allergic disorders in relation to asthma and spastic bronchitis in children

Abstract

Background: Recent studies suggest that a large proportion of children with diagnosed and treated spastic bronchitis, in fact, suffer from undiagnosed asthma. Such a “labeling” effect is well described in Poland and a few other Eastern European countries.

Aims and objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the prevalence and associations of allergic conditions in children with asthma and spastic bronchitis.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of randomly selected children aged 6-15 years living in the town of Chorzow (Southern Poland). Physician-diagnosed respiratory diseases such as asthma and spastic bronchitis as well as allergic disorders including hay fever, eczema, dust, pollen, food, and animal allergy were ascertained using a questionnaire completed by the parents.

Results: A total of 3480 children aged 6-15 years participated in the study (response rate=75.7%). Asthma prevalence was 12.9% while spastic bronchitis prevalence was 10.5%. Any allergy was present in 71.6% of children with asthma and in 26.6% of children with spastic bronchitis (p<0.05). After controlling for age and gender, the odds ratio for asthma and any allergic condition was 17.5 (95%CI:13.4-22.9) while for any allergic condition and spastic bronchitis it was 1.33 (95%CI: 0.9-2.0). Such differences in prevalence (p<0.05) and similar associations (ORs) were observed between each individual allergic condition with asthma and spastic bronchitis.

Conclusions: Our findings revealed that allergic conditions are more frequent and are more strongly associated with asthma than with spastic bronchitis. It indirectly shows that in our study children with asthma and spastic bronchitis may suffer from two different conditions.