OBJECTIVE To determine whether secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure is associated with greater asthma severity in children with physician-diagnosed asthma living in CT, and to examine whether area of residence, race/ethnicity or poverty moderate the association. METHODS A large childhood asthma database in CT (Easy Breathing) was linked by participant zip code to census data to classify participan...

OBJECTIVE To explore the barriers and facilitators to inhaled asthma treatment in adolescents with asthma. DESIGN Qualitative analysis of posts about inhaler treatment in adolescents from an online forum for people with asthma. Analysis informed by the Perceptions and Practicalities Approach. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-four forum participants (39 adolescents ≥16 years, 5 parents of adolescents, 10 ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of an aerobic conditioning program on fitness, respiratory physiology, and resting lung function in patients with mild asthma. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Outpatient rehabilitation facility. METHODS Five patients with mild intermittent asthma and five normal control subjects completed a 10-week aerobic conditioning program. Pulmonary fu...

allergic rhinitis (ar) is a common global health problem with approximately one quarter of  the  world population  affected. the  quality of  life (qol)  of  sufferers with ar is significantly affected. the aim of this study was to evaluate the qol of adults with ar. this study was designed for adults with ar above 18 years old. the study was conducted using a valid rhinitis quality of life que...

Asthma represents a growing public health problem and the cost of asthma has been rising in many countries. The aim of this study was to estimate the direct and indirect cost of asthma among adult patients in Italy, and to assess the relationship between healthcare resource use and asthma severity according to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) classification system. A multicentre cross-se...

T he etiology of asthma is not known. Acute and chronic asthma can be triggered by several factors, including allergen exposure, upper respiratory tract infections (particularly viruses), exposure to irritants such as cold air, cigarette smoke, and other air pollutants, exercise, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, sulfites, and possibly emotional factors.’ While the exact role of allergen exp...

Over the past two decades, changes in the health services designed to improve access to and quality of asthma care have occurred in South Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of fatal and near-fatal asthma (NFA) from 1980-1997 in an urban part of South Africa. A retrospective analysis of fatal asthma and NFA in the Cape Town City Council area was performed. Mortality d...

Background: In addition to the increased incidence of asthma, obesity in asthmatic children is also on the rise. Several studies have been performed to determine whether obesity could be a risk factor for asthma, but this association has not been demonstrated in all patients. The Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ) is a standardized and validated tool for use in the pediatric...

Background. Pulmonary function tests (PFT) have been developed to analyze tidal breathing in patients who are minimally cooperative due to age and respiratory status. This study used tidal breathing tests in the ED to measure asthma severity. Design/Method. A prospective pilot study in pediatric patients (3 to 18 yrs) with asthma/wheezing was conducted in an ED setting using respiratory inducta...