The Burden of Pediatric Asthma

Abstract

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children, imposing a consistent burden on health system. In recent years, prevalence of asthma symptoms became globally increased in children and adolescents, particularly in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Host (genetics, atopy) and environmental factors (microbial exposure, exposure to passive smoking and air pollution), seemed to contribute to this trend. The increased prevalence observed in metropolitan areas with respect to rural ones and, overall, in industrialized countries, highlighted the role of air pollution in asthma inception. Asthma accounts for 1.1% of the overall global estimate of “Disability-adjusted life years” (DALYs)/100,000 for all causes. Mortality in children is low and it decreased across Europe over recent years. Children from LMICs particularly suffer a disproportionately higher burden in terms of morbidity and mortality. Global asthma-related costs are high and are usually are classified into direct, indirect and intangible costs. Direct costs account for 50–80% of the total costs. Asthma is one of the main causes of hospitalization which are particularly common in children aged < 5 years with a prevalence that has been increased during the last two decades, mostly in LMICs. Indirect costs are usually higher than in older patients, including both school and work-related losses. Intangible costs are unquantifiable, since they are related to impairment of quality of life, limitation of physical activities and study performance. The implementation of strategies aimed at early detect asthma thus providing access to the proper treatment has been shown to effectively reduce the burden of the disease.

Spatiotemporal Variations in Ambient Ultrafine Particles and the Incidence of Childhood Asthma

“…The mean concentration of exposure to UFPs during the whole pregnancy period was 28,910 count/cm 3 (Table 2). Average exposures and IQRs for UFPs were similar across the different trimesters.…”

“…The prevalence of asthma in children has been increasing worldwide over the last decades (1)(2)(3). Evidence links ambient air pollution exposures during pregnancy and early life with lung function deficits in children (4-7) as well as childhood asthma incidence (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18).…”

How applicable are GLI 2012 equations to a sample of Middle Eastern school‐age children?

“…It creates a large burden on the society, for example, the cost of the burden of asthma in Germany is $2740 to 4430 million 2 . This high burden of the disease can be decreased by better diagnosis and management of asthma 3 . A key tool to correctly diagnose and assess asthma is the proper administration of spirometry 4…”

Epigenome‐wide association studies in asthma: A systematic review

“…According to GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma), asthma prevalence is increasing in many countries, especially in childhood . It is estimated that around 300 million people worldwide are affected by the disease (around 4.5% of adults and 11% of children worldwide) . The prevalence of asthma has more than doubled in the last decades in Western Europe, while developing countries have also suffered an increase in the disease prevalence…”