Transfusion-naïve Thalassemia Pediatric Patients have Higher Incidence of Asthma: A Nationwide Population-based Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: Few studies have studied the association between asthma and pediatric transfusion naïve thalassemia. Methods: A nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted using medical records of selected children from the 2010 Registry for Beneficiaries of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, with a follow-up period extending to the end of 2013. One thalassemia patient was matched with four control patients without thalassemia according to year of birth, sex, and the propensity score model based on comorbidities. Results: In this study, 794 patients with thalassemia and 3176 controls were included. Transfusion-naïve thalassemia children had higher rates to develop asthma (41.03 vs 36.69 per 1000 person-y; P = 0.032) than the non-thalassemia controls with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.16 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01–1.33). Boys in the thalassemia cohort had a significantly higher adjusted hazard ratio of asthma than those in the non-thalassemia cohort (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.02–1.42). In thalassemic patients without atopic dermatitis, the risk of asthma was 1.25-fold higher than in the non-thalassemic ones (95% CI=1.07–1.47). Conclusions: Transfusion-naïve thalassemia children are more likely to have asthma. We need to pay more attention to it in order to diagnosis asthma earlier and to prevent asthma attacked earlier.