Abstract
Rationale: Our objective was to determine the occurrence and predictors of single and multiple hospital admissions for asthma in an unselected population.
Methods: We studied a population-based birth cohort of 1037 New Zealand children assessed repeatedly to age 26. All study members who reported respiratory symptoms ever by age 26 were considered at risk for admission.
Results: Among 766 study members (74% of the cohort) who reported wheezing symptoms ever by age 26, 136 hospitalisations for asthma were reported by 62 study members (8.3% of those at risk, or 6.2% of the total cohort). Of these, 45 had a single admission and 17 had multiple admissions (range: 2-10). Study members admitted to hospital for asthma or wheeze were predominantly male, had an earlier age of onset of symptoms, lower lung function and more airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine compared with those at risk not admitted.
Conclusions: A substantial fraction of an unselected population were hospitalized for asthma during a 26 year follow-up. Clinical characteristics and markers of severity, including frequent respiratory symptoms, airway hyperresponsiveness, atopy and low lung function, identify those at high risk for hospitalisation for asthma, particularly for multiple admissions.