From the 1Department of Pediatrics, National University of Singapore, Singapore; and 2Epidemiology & Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health, Singapore.
World Allergy Organ J. 2009 May;2(5):77-82. doi: 10.1097/WOX.0b013e3181a7c288.
: The wide variability in prevalence of childhood asthma across Asia Pacific is well documented, but less is known about its trends in mortality and hospitalization.
: To examine pediatric asthma mortality and hospitalization trends of selected countries across Asia Pacific, and also patterns of asthma drug utilization.
: Mortality and population data were sourced from the World Health Organization's mortality database. Data on hospitalization were obtained by direct inquiry and from government and scientific publications. Drug use for asthma was expressed as a controller-to-reliever (C:R) ratio (ie, units of inhaled corticosteroids/units of short-acting β-agonists, sold in each country). Time-series regression analyses were used to examine temporal patterns and study association between deaths, hospitalizations, and drug use.
: Japan showed a decreasing trend in pediatric asthma mortality whereas an increase was observed in Thailand. Hospitalizations decreased in Australia and Singapore but increased in Taiwan, Republic of China. C:R ratios increased significantly across the countries.
: Mixed trends in pediatric asthma mortality and hospitalization rates were observed, which coincided with a uniform increase in C:R ratios. This may reflect importance of other aspects of asthma management besides pharmacotherapy.
亚太地区儿童哮喘的患病率存在很大差异，这一点已有充分的文献记载，但对其死亡率和住院率的趋势了解较少。
检查亚太地区部分国家的儿科哮喘死亡率和住院率趋势，并研究哮喘药物使用模式。
死亡率和人口数据来源于世界卫生组织的死亡率数据库。住院数据通过直接查询以及政府和科学出版物获得。哮喘药物使用情况以控制器与缓解剂（C：R）比值（即，每个国家销售的吸入皮质类固醇/短效β-激动剂单位）表示。时间序列回归分析用于检查时间模式，并研究死亡、住院和药物使用之间的关系。
日本的儿科哮喘死亡率呈下降趋势，而泰国则呈上升趋势。澳大利亚和新加坡的住院人数减少，但中国台湾的住院人数增加。C：R 比值在各国均显著增加。
儿科哮喘死亡率和住院率的趋势喜忧参半，这与 C：R 比值的统一增加相吻合。这可能反映了除药物治疗以外，哮喘管理的其他方面也很重要。
