Kao C C, See L C, Yan D C, Ou L S, Huang J L
Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Children's Hospital and Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Asian Pac J Allergy Immunol. 2001 Jun;19(2):63-8.
The aim of the study was to determine the trends and seasonal variations in hospital admissions for childhood asthma in a tertiary medical center since 1990. Data were collected according to the age and sex of patients and obtained from hospital registries between 1990 and 1998. Children between 2 and 14 years of age admitted with the diagnosis of asthma, or asthmatic bronchitis (ICD-9 code 493) were included. Age-specific and sex-specific hospital admission rates for asthma were calculated for each calendar year. The asthma admission rates were defined as the number of asthma admissions divided by the total number of all pediatric admissions in a year. Seasonal admission rates were calculated in a similar fashion. In addition, the number of readmissions was also calculated during the study period with comparisons of sex and age differences. The asthma admission rates showed a significant upward trend throughout the period studied, particularly among the 2-4 years of age group (relative risk = 2.08; p = 0.0001). Seasonal admission rates revealed a statistically significant increase during the October-December period, peaking in November or December of each calendar year (relative risk = 1.84; p = 0.0001). There was a male predominance in both age categories during the 9-year period. Comparisons of readmissions for asthma (at least three admissions) disclosed that girls were far more likely to be readmitted than boys among the 5-14 years of age group (p = 0.01). Our results indicate 1) an increased prevalence and severity of childhood asthma in Taiwan; 2) boys and younger children aged 2-4 years with asthma had increased risks of admission for asthma (relative risks were 1.22 and 1.96, respectively) and 3) girls among the older children with asthma tend to present with greater severity than boys owing to higher relative risks of readmission for asthma.
本研究的目的是确定自1990年以来一家三级医疗中心儿童哮喘住院情况的趋势和季节性变化。数据根据患者的年龄和性别收集，取自1990年至1998年的医院登记记录。纳入2至14岁因哮喘或喘息性支气管炎（国际疾病分类第九版代码493）入院的儿童。计算每个日历年按年龄和性别的哮喘住院率。哮喘住院率定义为哮喘住院人数除以一年中所有儿科住院总人数。季节性住院率以类似方式计算。此外，还计算了研究期间的再入院人数，并比较了性别和年龄差异。在所研究的整个期间，哮喘住院率呈显著上升趋势，尤其是在2至4岁年龄组（相对风险 = 2.08；p = 0.0001）。季节性住院率显示在10月至12月期间有统计学上的显著增加，在每个日历年的11月或12月达到峰值（相对风险 = 1.84；p = 0.0001）。在这9年期间，两个年龄组均以男性居多。对哮喘再入院（至少三次入院）的比较显示，在5至14岁年龄组中，女孩比男孩更易再次入院（p = 0.01）。我们的结果表明：1）台湾儿童哮喘的患病率和严重程度有所增加；2）患哮喘的男孩和2至4岁的年幼儿童哮喘住院风险增加（相对风险分别为1.22和1.96）；3）患哮喘的大龄儿童中，女孩因哮喘再入院的相对风险较高，其病情往往比男孩更严重。
