Changes in asthma severity in the first year of school and difficulty learning to read.

Objective: Asthma is a risk factor for poor early reading in children, for reasons that are unclear. This analysis examines the relationship between changes in asthma severity during the first year of school and being in the lowest quartile of reading achievement after 1 year of school.Methods: We used previously unreported data from our cohort study. Parent interviews and teacher questionnaires enquired about asthma and covariates of achievement at school entry (T1) and 12 months later (T2). Asthma severity scores at T1 and T2 showed that in 27 of 51 children with asthma, symptoms improved over the year, whereas in 24, symptoms persisted or worsened. Word and story reading were assessed at T1 and T2. We compared reading achievement at both timepoints between children with asthma and children who had no reported respiratory symptoms between birth and T2 (controls, N = 74), and between those with persistent versus improved symptoms.Results: More children with asthma than controls were in the lowest quartiles for reading. Further, significantly more children in the persistent group compared to the improved group were in the lowest quartiles for word reading (58 versus 30%, respectively) and story reading (54 versus 26%, respectively). School absences, increased behavior problems, stressful life events or parental mental health were not associated with the differences in either comparison. Logistic regression modeling identified persistent asthma as the most important variable associated with being in the lowest quartile of reading after 1 year in school.Conclusions: Active asthma symptoms during early school may influence early reading achievement.

Beginning school with asthma independently predicts low achievement in a prospective cohort of children.

BACKGROUND: Concerns about the achievement of children with asthma and respiratory conditions are especially important in New Zealand, which has one of the world's highest rates of childhood asthma. The present study evaluated whether entering school with asthma was associated with low achievement after the first year. METHODS: A child cohort was recruited to a prospective study at time of first enrollment into randomly selected schools in Christchurch. Parent interviews covered demographics and respiratory status. Physician reports were sought for children with asthma, and all respiratory information was clinically reviewed. The children's achievement in reading and math was individually assessed at school entry and reassessed after 12 months. Schools reported absences. Intelligence subtests were administered. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety-eight children were recruited, including 55 (18.5%) with current asthma. At 1-year follow-up, retention was 93.7%. Children who entered school with asthma were more likely to be ≥ 6 months behind other participants in reading words (P = .023) and books (P = .026), but not in math (P = .167) at the end of the first year of school. Achievement was not related to asthma severity. Entering school with asthma reliably predicted low reading achievement independent of other known covariates of low achievement (high absenteeism, minority status, male gender, single-parent family, poor academic skills at school entry, and low socioeconomic status). CONCLUSIONS: Entering school with asthma was a significant predictor of low achievement in reading at 12-month follow-up, independent of asthma severity, high absenteeism, or other covariates of low achievement.