Predicting Factors for Asthma Remission in Children

Factors contributing to outcome of childhood asthma are important for planning treatments and, potentially, in preventive interventions and advising on prognosis. Limited data are available on the asthma remission in Thai children. The objective of this study was to determine the predicting factors for asthma remission in children. This is a prospective cohort study. Children who were diagnosed as having asthma during the period of 2004-2007 were reevaluated in 2015. The clinical characteristics and pulmonary function test were assessed. Clinical asthma remission (CR) was defined as having no asthma symptoms and no use of asthma medication during the past 12 months. One hundred and twenty children (63.3% male) with asthma were recruited. The median age at onset of wheezing was 2.0 years (range 0.2-12.6 years), 95.7% had allergic rhinitis, 65.8% had aeroallergen sensitization and 20.8% had parental asthma. At reevaluation, 58 patients (48.3%) were in CR. CR rates at 15 and 18 years of age were 50% and 80%, respectively. Patients with CR had less significantly airway obstruction compared with patients with persistent asthma (FEV1/FVC 97.6±7.3% VS 102.0±5.9%; p = 0.004). Predicting factors for asthma remission were age at onset of wheezing > 5 years (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.87; 95% CI 1.25-12.02), and sensitization to house dust mites (HDM) (adjusted OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.20-0.97). The probability of CR at 18 years of age was 80%. Predicting factors for asthma remission were determined by age at onset of wheezing > 5 years and without HDM sensitization.